Too Friendly
by keeptheotherone
Summary: An innocent dinner invitation sparks a maelstrom in the Weasley-Granger-Potter families when Rose wants to take her parents to Malfoy Manor. "Scorpius stared at the scar for a long time, trying to absorb what his eyes were telling him. His family—his dad!—had been just as involved in helping Voldemort rise to power as Rose's family had been in stopping it."
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hellooo, everybody! This is my first time writing Scorose, so do please let me know your thoughts. I wanted to take a more serious approach to the idea of Rose and Scorpius as a couple and explore some of the very real concerns their parents (especially Ron and Hermione) would have had. Special thanks to **vancabreuniter **for betaing this even though it's not one of her ships. And if anyone has any good Rose/Scorpius avatars to recommend, please let me know.

FYI, progress continues on my Camp NaNo piece, AKA the Eighth Year Fic, and I hope to have enough of the plot outlined/written to begin posting by the end of the year. I know, I know, that's two months later than I hoped for, but "the best laid plans of mice and men" etc. etc. If you're interested, a synopsis and excerpts are posted on the Camp NaNoWriMo website (link on my profile). Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

_Dear Rose,_

_I've thought a lot about what you said on the train about not being ashamed of our relationship, and I've decided you're right—we should tell our parents. I'm inviting you, Hugo, and your mum and dad to have dinner with me and my parents at Malfoy Manor two weeks from tomorrow. I haven't actually spoken to Mum and Dad yet, but I did check with Misty, and both their schedules are clear._

_Love, _

_Scorpius_

_P.S. I miss you already._

Rose Weasley read the letter from her boyfriend twice, then rushed down the stairs to where her parents were relaxing in the sitting room. It was her first night home after her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and her brother Hugo, also a student there, had gone home with friends.

"Mum, Dad, I need to talk to you."

"What is it, Rosie?" Dad looked up from his newspaper immediately. Mum, probably finishing a paragraph, took a moment longer to set down her book.

"We've been invited to dinner at Malfoy Manor."

Dad gaped. Mum was speechless.

"Scorpius and I have been dating, and he's invited us all to have dinner and meet his parents."

"I'm sorry," Dad said with forced calm. "I thought you said you've been dating Malfoy."

Rose nodded, bracing herself for the explosion. Her father hated the Malfoys and never had a good word to say about any of them.

"No," he said flatly, tossing the newspaper aside. "I forbid it."

"I'm not asking your permission. I'm telling you about something that's already happened. Scorpius and I have been together for six months."

"Six _months_? _Six_ months? You've been lying to me and your mother since Christmas?"

"Not lying," Rose said quickly. Her father gave her a pointed look, and she dropped her gaze.

"You have no business associating with a Malfoy. I can't help the fact that you're both in the same house, but I can keep him out of mine—and you out of his."

"You can not!" Rose stood up. "I'm seventeen years old, and I can go wherever I please!"

"The hell you can!" Dad exclaimed, standing up and towering over her. "You are never entering that house!"

Rose stomped her foot. "I am too! Scorpius has invited me, and I'm going, I don't care what you say! I know his dad was a jerk to you and Mum, but that was a long time ago, and that wasn't Scorpius. Mum will come with me, won't you, Mum?" Rose turned, and it was only then that she noticed her mother was stock-still and white-faced with one hand to the base of her throat. "Mum?"

But Mum didn't look at her, she looked at Dad. A pleading, desperate look that Rose didn't know how to interpret. Dad swore, viciously and fluently, and still, Mum didn't say a word. Rose's stomach began to churn. Something strange was going on, something that she didn't understand. Mum always scolded Dad when he used bad language, especially in front of her or Hugo, and that had been filthy.

"If this is about his family being Slytherins, don't you think it's time to give up the house rivalry?"

Dad glared at her, a harsh look she rarely saw. "This has nothing to do with house rivalry, Rose. I am not taking your mother back to Malfoy Manor and that's final."

_Back_ to Malfoy Manor? What did that mean? "I just want you to give Scorpius a chance, and you're being stupid!" Rose cried. "My parents, the great war heroes, are nothing but foolish, bigoted cowards who are afraid of a house!"

"Rose!" Mum had found her voice at last, but Rose wasn't listening. Before either of her parents could stop her, she ran out of the house and turned on the spot.

Rose stood on the hill overlooking the Burrow and tried to calm down. She had Disapparated to the first place she thought of, but she didn't want to drag her grandparents into this. Dad was being completely unreasonable. It was just dinner! She was trying to do the right thing, to tell the truth and avoid having to sneak around all summer, and he was acting like she was going out with a Death Eater or something. She took a deep breath. And why wouldn't Mum stick up for her? Not that she and her mother never argued, but it was usually about stupid stuff; wearing her mittens or straightening her wardrobe or not doodling in her school books. Rose stared down at the crooked house and thought. Uncle Harry would take her side; her godfather let her get away with anything. Aunt Ginny said he'd been wrapped around Rose's little finger since the first time Mum put her in his arms when she was just a few minutes old. Uncle Harry would understand that she was being responsible by introducing her parents to Scorpius and meeting his parents herself.

Landing roughly just outside the garden fence (she was new to Apparating), Rose opened the gate, walked up the path, and knocked briskly on the Potters' front door.

"Rose!" Aunt Ginny stepped aside. "The kids are out back."

"Actually, I came to see Uncle Harry."

"He's in the study, love, go on back."

Rose smiled her thanks and knocked on a second door.

"Come in! Hello, Rose." Uncle Harry set down the scroll he was reading and came around his desk to greet her, then frowned. "Do your parents know you're here?"

Rose scowled. Uncle Harry let her get away with pretty much anything, but he always found out about it. It came with being an Auror.

"No," she said sullenly, crossing her arms and dropping into a chair without hugging him.

"It's your first night home. Fighting already?"

"Dad's being stupid."

"Mmm. And you just walked out?"

"I can Disapparate now. I have my license."

"I stand corrected," Uncle Harry said, amused, and Rose threw him a dark look. "Let me Floo them, let them know you're safe, and we can talk about it."

Rose kept her back turned while Uncle Harry made the Floo-call.

"Your mum looked pretty shook up. What happened?"

"They won't go to Malfoy Manor with me."

"I beg your pardon?" Uncle Harry had stopped dead, hands on the desk, halfway lowered into his chair.

The churning in Rose's stomach resumed. "To have dinner with Scorpius and his parents."

"You're dating Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Yes. And I don't see why that's such a big deal. Just because all of you didn't get along doesn't mean that Scorpius and I don't!"

"Oh, Rose." Uncle Harry sighed and sank the rest of the way into his chair. "What have your parents told you about the Malfoys?"

"Just that Mr. Malfoy was a git who hated you and made fun of Dad because he was poor and Mum because she was smart. And he was a Slytherin, so of course Mum and Dad hated him." Her parents and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny and essentially all of her extended family were Gryffindors, although she and Scorpius had been Sorted into Ravenclaw. "And he was into the Dark Arts."

"Rose, Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater."

"You mean Lucius."

"No, I mean Draco. Well, yes, Lucius too, but Draco took the Dark Mark when he was sixteen, the summer before our sixth year. You've heard the story of how we broke into the Department of Mysteries?"

Rose nodded.

"Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, was arrested with the other Death Eaters and sent to Azkaban. Draco took his place."

"But—but—"

"And he didn't make fun of your mother because she was smart; it was because she was Muggle-born. He first called her the M-word in second year. Hermione and I didn't even know what it meant."

The churning in her stomach was a full-blown ache. No wonder Dad had freaked out. "I didn't know that," she whispered.

"And Lucius was responsible for something terrible that happened to your aunt Ginny her very first year at Hogwarts."

"With the Chamber of Secrets?"

He looked surprised. "They told you about that?"

Rose shook her head. "Al did. He thought I knew."

Uncle Harry's mouth tightened, and she made a mental note to warn Al. Apparently he was not supposed to have told.

"Lucius Malfoy slipped Ginny the diary that she wrote in that contained the dark magic that opened the Chamber."

Rose bit her lip. She was in bigger trouble than she had thought.

"What did your dad say when you asked to go to Malfoy Manor?"

She summarized the argument for him, including her mother's uncharacteristic silence, her dad's vehemence, and her own accusations.

"You said what?" Uncle Harry said, leaning forward.

"I said they were cowards," Rose repeated defiantly. "For not—" She broke off when she noticed the muscle ticking in his jaw. She had seen Uncle Harry's temper before, but never directed at her.

"Cowards? _Cowards_? Do you have any idea— Turn around."

Shifting nervously, she heard the cabinet door open and close and then something heavy set on the desk.

"Do you know what this is?"

Rose turned back around and saw a shallow stone basin with runes carved around the edge. She tipped her head, trying to read them.

"Rose?"

"It's a Pensieve."

"Have you ever used one?"

She shook her head. "But I've—"

"Read about them," Uncle Harry said sarcastically, putting the tip of his wand to his temple, closing his eyes, and drawing out a long, silvery strand. It twisted and shimmered before dropping into the Pensieve with a flick of his wand.

"After you," he said, indicating the basin. "You'll know what to do, since you've read all about them."

The sharp edge to his voice made Rose uneasy.

"Where are we going?"

"To Malfoy Manor."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Before you all lambast me about how harsh Harry is with Rose, let me say that yes, he is, and yes, I did that on purpose. I think his motivation is rather obvious, but he does explain himself somewhat more in the next chapter. I should have warned you last week that this is not a fluffy story.

All the dialogue among the Pensieve People is from: Rowling, J.K. "Malfoy Manor." In _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_, 370-84_. _Bloomsbury: London, 2007. And no, I don't own _Harry Potter._

* * *

Following the instructions she had read in _Useful Magical Items and Devices_, Rose bent over the Pensieve until her face broke its surface. With a stomach-turning lurch, she fell head over heels into darkness. Seconds later, Uncle Harry was standing beside her on a gravel drive leading to a large, imposing manor house. A knot of people were making their way up the drive, and as they got closer, she realized they were bound together. A young black man, a goblin (no wonder they were stumbling; there had to be at least three feet of difference in their heights), a dark-haired teenager who looked like he'd been on the wrong end of a Stinging Jinx, and—

Her parents. They looked terrified, thin, and young, much younger than the seventh years she knew them to be. Rose could see her mother's collarbones protruding through her jumper. If those were her parents, then the dark-haired boy must be….

"Fenrir Greyback! We've caught Harry Potter!"

Rose and Uncle Harry entered the house with the others as the blond woman called for her son. Rose gasped before her brain caught up with her senses. It wasn't Scorpius but his father, Draco. She studied him closely, looking for a distinguishing feature. No wonder Dad had difficulty seeing Scorpius for himself; he was the spitting image of his father, her dad's archenemy all through school.

Rose looked around, taking in the scruffy, smelly wizards who held the group at wandpoint; her visibly shaking mother; the pale, strained face of her father; the fear radiating off young Uncle Harry; and the three Malfoys dominating the scene. Dad had been right—she didn't know what she was talking about. This was way more than house rivalry.

The bullies forced the group around, putting Mum directly under the light from the opulent chandelier. She looked even worse than Rose had realized. Mum's eyes were wide with terror, she was white to the lips, and although her hair was pulled back in a frizzy plait, it was long and straggly and looked like it hadn't been washed in a week. Rose held her breath as Mrs. Malfoy and Scorpius's dad identified Mum. She was Muggle-born; what were they going to do to her?

"What is this? What's happened, Cissy?"

Rose turned to see the newcomer and her heart stopped. "Isn't that—"

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Uncle Harry said. "She's Scorpius's great-aunt."

Rose felt as if the floor dropped out from underneath her. _Aunt_? She knew the Malfoys had supported Voldemort, but no one had ever told her they were actually related to Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the most formidable Death Eaters in both wars.

"I didn't know, Uncle Harry. I didn't know, I swear—wait, what's happening?"

Bellatrix was stunning people right and left, shrieking at Mrs. Malfoy and looking quite deranged as she ordered everyone to the cellar. Everyone—except Mum.

"No!" Dad shouted. "You can have me, keep me!"

Rose whimpered, hands over her mouth, as the Death Eater spoke of her mum's death with impunity and casually assured her dad he could be next.

She craned her neck, struggling to keep her mother in view as the remaining prisoners, including Dad and young Uncle Harry, crossed the room. "I want to stay with Mum. What's happening to Mummy?"

"You'll see," Uncle Harry said. "Come on, Rose, you have to stay with my memory."

Indeed, Rose felt the pull of magic even as she struggled against it. Surrendering as the door to the drawing room closed behind them, she heard the scruffiest, smelliest bully speaking to her dad.

"Reckon she'll let me have a bit of the girl when she's finished with her? I'd say I'll get a bite or two, wouldn't you, Ginger?"

And with sickening recall, Rose remembered where she had heard the name Fenrir Greyback; he was the werewolf who had attacked Uncle Bill. Now Dad was shaking, and as they tripped their way down a stairwell, Rose realized she was too. Her mother—her brave, brilliant, Muggle-born mother—was in the clutches of a powerful, conscienceless witch who considered her less than human, and her father and her godfather were being detained pending the arrival of the most evil wizard of all time. And she, Rose Minerva Weasley, had called her parents foolish, bigoted cowards. Shuddering with guilt and fear, Rose huddled close to Uncle Harry.

"Uncle Harry, I'm sorry. I didn't know, I won't—"

There was a terrible, drawn-out scream from directly above them, and Dad went mental.

"HERMIONE!" he bellowed, struggling so hard he nearly sent the group of them, still bound together, crashing to the floor. "HERMIONE!"

Rose burst into tears. "I want to go home. Uncle Harry, please take me home!"

He placed one hand on her shoulder but shook his head. "No, Rose. You wanted to know why your parents are upset about you and Scorpius—" He winced as Mum screamed again and raised his voice to make himself heard over Dad's yells in response. "—And why they don't want to come back to Malfoy Manor, so pay attention."

Rose gulped and swallowed and swiped her eyes. Astonished, she swiped them again, more carefully. But there was Luna, sawing at the ropes with an old nail.

"How did Luna—" But Rose's voice was drowned out by her father's as he screamed her mother's name. Rose could hear her mother now, pleading with her torturer. "Mummy," she whispered, not bothering to wipe her tears.

The room filled with light (Dad's Deluminator!), Bellatrix yelled at Mum, who continued with the piercing screams, and Dad and young Uncle Harry began running around the cellar. Horrified, Rose watched as her dad tried to Disapparate without a wand and her seventeen-year-old godfather dug frantically in a pouch around his neck.

She knew her mum, her dad, and her uncle Harry were best friends, had been best friends since their first year at Hogwarts. Everyone had a story about them, from her uncles to her schoolmates' parents to the shopkeeper at Scrivenshaft's. She knew, too, that her parents had fallen in love long before they went on the hunt for Voldemort. They were still in love, often embarrassingly so.

But this was different. Dad was crying, clawing at the ceiling, shouting for Mum as if his voice alone could save her. Uncle Harry was doing things that made no sense: shaking a Snitch, waving a wand that was obviously broken, talking to a shard of mirror. Sick with fear, shocked by the panic and desperation of two of the toughest, bravest wizards she knew, Rose turned again to her godfather. He was pale and stiff, and when he spoke, it was through a clenched jaw.

"Do you hear that? Your mother is being tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, and she's lying to safe my life. She's the one being tortured—" His voice broke— "And she's still using that brilliant brain of hers to get me out of trouble."

There was a lot of scrambling among the Pensieve people as the lights went out, but Uncle Harry ignored both the activity and Rose's sobs as he turned her to face him. "Cowards? I've never met a braver witch. And from the moment they caught us, your dad tried to protect your mum even though it could cost him his life. For people like the Malfoys and Bellatrix Lestrange, a blood traitor was as bad as a Mudblood."

Rose flinched at the forbidden word. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please, Uncle Harry…."

"Brace yourself, Rose," he said as the lights came back on. "It's not over yet."

Hurt by Uncle Harry's coldness but starting to understand his anger, Rose wiped her face on her sleeve and took a few heaving breaths. Dad was a bit calmer now. She watched as Luna and the black boy, who seemed to be a friend, argued about leaving with the elf. She had heard stories about Dobby since she was a young child. Mum said he had died in the war. Was it tonight? Mum was still screaming, and Rose wondered how long it was going to go on. The elf made a loud noise as he Disapparated with Luna, the black boy, and a sickly-looking old man. Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Dad and young Uncle Harry flanked the door.

A small, strangely rat-like man entered the cellar, and Dad and Uncle Harry jumped him. He had a magical hand, like a beautiful silver glove, and it wrapped around young Uncle Harry's throat. Arms wrapped around herself, Rose bit her lip, her heart beating in her ears. Of course Uncle Harry wasn't going to die, he was standing right beside her, he was fine….

He was wrestling with the silver hand, which was now choking its master. Dad helped, but the hand was stronger than all three of them, and the rat-like man crumpled to the ground.

"Is he—"

"Dead, yes."

Rose had no time to process the—was it really a suicide?—for they were moving up the stairs and into the drawing room. Mum lay unmoving at Bellatrix's feet as the goblin examined a sword. Bellatrix pushed up her sleeve, and Rose saw the Dark Mark for the first time.

"And I think," Bellatrix said, "we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her."

Yelling, Dad ran into the room, followed by young Uncle Harry, and there was a brief skirmish until Bellatrix, supporting Mum's weight, held a knife to her throat. Rose's blood ran cold. Mum had been tortured into unconsciousness and offered to a werewolf, and still this witch wouldn't leave her alone. When was this madness going to end?

There was an odd grinding noise. Rose screamed and ducked as the giant chandelier crashed to the ground, surrounding her mother in its massive rim and scattering broken crystal everywhere. Dad ran to Mum, young Uncle Harry forced the wands from Scorpius's dad, Dobby the house-elf summoned Mrs. Malfoy's wand and squeaked his defense of Uncle Harry. Rose saw her dad catch a wand and turn on the spot with her mother in his arms. Then Uncle Harry pulled on her arm, and she was rising out of Malfoy Manor.


	3. Chapter 3

Rose landed in Uncle Harry's study, staggered, and reached for the bin, retching violently. She knelt in front of it for several minutes until the floor leveled off and her stomach stopped trying to turn itself inside out. Wiping her mouth on her sleeve, she accepted the glass of water Uncle Harry conjured and sat down in the chair.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I probably shouldn't have actually shown you that, but when you called them cowards, I just—" He broke off, and for the first time, Rose noticed he looked a little green himself.

"Uncle Harry?" she said tentatively. "Are you okay?"

He closed his eyes, rubbing his scar in what she knew was an unconscious gesture. "I haven't thought about that night in years, and I've never relived it in the Pensieve."

His voice was thick with tears, and the guilt and shame rose up in Rose until it jammed in her throat, choking off her words.

"I thought we were all going to die that night. If it hadn't been for Dobby…."

Rose swallowed, then again. "Is that when—when he died?"

He nodded, wiping his eyes with a pinching motion. "Bellatrix threw her knife as we Disapparated, and it caught him in the chest. He died in my arms on the beach at Shell Cottage."

The mass in her throat was painful, bringing tears to her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Uncle Harry passed her a box of tissues. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose, which made her ears ache. Swallowing again in an attempt to open them, she tossed the tissues in the now-clean bin. It was rare for any of her family to talk about the war with any detail, and she was not going to squander this opportunity.

"Where did Luna come from?"

"She was kidnapped off the Hogwarts Express at Christmas and held prisoner at Malfoy Manor for three months."

Rose gaped. She knew Luna had fought in the Final Battle with Dumbledore's Army, but Rose didn't know Luna had been captured. "At—"

"Scorpius's house, yes."

Rose scowled.

"It's the truth, Rose, and like it or not, fair or not, it's how your parents see it."

"Who was the black boy? You all seemed to know him."

"Dean Thomas. He was in our year, a fellow Gryffindor."

That meant he'd also been a member of the DA, which was probably how Luna knew him. "Violet and Amythest's dad?"

Uncle Harry nodded. "His mum was a Muggle, and he didn't know about his dad, so he went on the run."

Rose took another drink of water. She still had a bitter taste in her mouth. "Did all the Muggle-borns go on the run that year?"

"A lot of them went abroad. Those who reported to the Muggle-Born Registration Commission had their wands confiscated and were sent to Azkaban."

"They were sent to Azkaban just for being Muggle-born?"

Uncle Harry frowned. "Haven't you studied this at school?"

She shook her head. "History of Magic stops at 1945 with the defeat of Grindelwald. I knew the Ministry confiscated their wands, but the books didn't say anything about Azkaban."

His expression darkened and he grunted.

"You said the Malfoys were related to Bellatrix Lestrange."

"There were three sisters in the Black family: Bellatrix; Andromeda; and Narcissa, Scorpius's grandmother."

"Andromeda? As in Teddy's grandmother, Andromeda?"

"That's the one."

"But that would make Teddy and Scorpius second cousins!"

"Something like that."

"The Black sisters, are they related to your godfather?"

"Yes, cousins. First cousins," he added, as if to emphasize the connection.

Rose sat back. This was too much to take in all at once.

"What happened to Mum? Was she okay?"

He took a deep breath and leaned back in the leather chair. "Bit weak for a few days, but yeah. Perfectly fine, as you well know."

"Is that when they got together? It was pretty obvious Dad loved her."

Uncle Harry smiled. "I wasn't there when she woke up, so I don't know what was said between them, but I do know they didn't kiss until the Final Battle. You've heard that story, surely?"

Rose nodded. "In the Room of Requirement, with the basilisk fangs." She paused. "They really were heroes, weren't they? It's not just hype."

"No, Rose. Each of them saved my life that year; each of them helped destroy Voldemort."

They fell silent.

"Will you tell them?" Rose whispered. "About—about what just happened, and that I'm really sorry?"

"I'll tell them I took you into the Pensieve, but you're the one who owes them the apology," he said firmly.

Rose bit her lip and looked up through her lashes, the look that usually got her whatever she wanted from Dad, Uncle Harry, and Granddad Granger. "May I spend the night tonight, and we'll tell them tomorrow?"

"Now who's being cowardly?" But he smiled at her.

She slumped in her chair. "Uncle Harry?"

He paused in reaching for the Floo powder jar. "Yes?"

"Do you think seeing Scorpius is a mistake?"

He turned to face her. "That depends. If this is a whim, or an act of rebellion, or an experiment, then yes. You're making a mistake. A big one that's going to hurt you, and your parents, and possibly your cousins quite deeply."

Rose stood and joined him in front of the fireplace. "We've been friends for ages, and we've been seeing each other since before Christmas. James, Al, and Lily know that. It's not a whim."

"I really hope that's true, sweetheart, because you've stirred up a lot of trouble. I hope Scorpius is worth it."

()()()()

Harry stepped out of the fireplace into Ron and Hermione's kitchen. Rose was nowhere in sight.

"Ron? Hermione? Hello?"

He heard footsteps on the stairs, and Hermione appeared, closely followed by Ron.

"Where's Rose?" they asked together.

"She Flooed ahead of me. She must have gone up to her room."

Hermione turned around.

"Wait, Hermione. I need to talk to you—both of you."

She hesitated, one hand on the bannister.

"Before you talk to Rose," Harry said, and she and Ron sat down on the sofa.

Harry paced in front of them. "Rose told me about your fight and what she said. When I heard her call you cowards, I got really angry, and..."

"And what?" Ron said.

"I took her into the Pensieve. At Malfoy Manor."

There were several seconds of dead silence, then both Ron and Hermione stood up and started shouting.

"You did _what_!"

"You had no right to do that, Harry, none at all!"

"I am not going to stand by and let someone insult you like that, even if she is your own daughter. _Especially_ your daughter!"

"It was our decision not to tell Rose and Hugo about what happened, and you had no right to go behind our backs!" Ron said.

"I didn't go behind your back," Harry said. "Rose came to me because you wouldn't tell her the truth."

"But Harry, the Pensieve," Hermione moaned. "You didn't just tell her what happened, you showed her. She lived that, just as if she were there! I didn't want—" Her voice faltered, then strengthened. "I do not want my children exposed to that kind of evil!"

"She needed to know, Hermione. Rose was terribly hurt and confused by your reaction to Scorpius's invitation, and she needed to know that it wasn't unfounded."

"I'll tell you what's unfounded," Ron said, taking a step forward. "You messing with my daughter!"

Hermione laid a hand on his arm. "He was just trying to help, Ron."

"He was meddling!"

"He's her godfather."

Ron gave an involuntary snort. Harry sat down, and his friends followed suit.

"Bloody hell, Harry, the Pensieve?"

"I know. I'm sorry, I just—she pissed me off," Harry admitted. "After everything you two have done for me... I wanted her to see how far from the truth she really was."

"How much of Malfoy Manor?" Hermione asked in a small voice.

"From the time we were coming up the drive until we Disapparated."

"Not Shell Cottage?"

Harry shook his head.

"She didn't see Dobby's death," Hermione said, her posture relaxing.

"But she saw Wormtail's," Ron said, and Hermione stiffened again.

Harry nodded. "And I told her what happened to Dobby. She asked," he added, seeing Hermione start to protest. "She asked if that was the night he died. I also told her about Draco being a Death Eater, Lucius planting Riddle's diary, Luna's capture, and Dean being on the run. She didn't even know the truth about the Muggle-born Registration Commission," he said, not bothering to keep the accusation out of his voice.

Hermione looked up at her husband. "We always said we would tell the kids later, when they were older, and I guess—" She shrugged, looking back at Harry. "We just didn't realize they were older already."

"What about Malfoy?" Ron said, tension in the line of his shoulders, the set of his jaw.

"What about him?"

"Did you tell her to lay off?"

"No, I didn't. I'm not supposed to meddle, remember?" The two wizards glared at each other for a moment, then Harry relented. "I did tell her she'd better be serious about him with all the trouble she's causing."

Ron sighed, and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Harry."

"What?"

"You told Rosie to get serious about Malfoy?" Ron said. "Merlin, you're rubbish at giving advice. Always have been."

"You two got together, didn't you?"

"No thanks to you," Ron and Hermione said in unison.

"That is not true," Harry said, pointing a finger at his best friends. "I spent almost all of sixth year trying to get you two to—"

Ron interrupted him. "Come on in, Princess."

Rose slunk into the room, eyes downcast.

Harry stood up. "I need to get back. I didn't tell Ginny I was leaving." He put one arm around Rose and tipped her chin up with his other hand. "You come see me whenever you like, and next time, we'll go somewhere fun in the Pensieve."

She nodded.

"You know I love you."

Rose nodded again but didn't return the sentiment. Harry kissed the top of her head and left.


	4. Chapter 4

Rose stood still in the middle of the room, waiting for one of her parents to scold her for her sudden disappearance. But nothing happened. They just sat there looking worried, and the silence swelled until she couldn't take the pressure any longer.

"I'm sorry," she blurted. "I—I didn't know why you were being so negative about something that means a lot to me, and I said some ugly things, and I'm sorry. I don't think you're cowards, and you obviously had a really good reason not to like Mr. Malfoy—" Dad snorted— "and I'm kind of scared of that house too."

"Oh, Rose." Mum got up, pulling Rose down to sit between her and Dad. "We never wanted you to find out like that. We didn't realize you and Scorpius had got so close, and we weren't prepared. You caught us by surprise, love."

"I didn't tell you because I thought you wouldn't approve."

Dad snorted again.

"Well, we certainly have some ... reservations," Mum said delicately. "But we have a lot of faith in your judgement. Ron Weasley, if you snort one more time…."

Dad sat back and crossed his arms.

"He's nothing like his father, Daddy, I promise," Rose said earnestly. "I know they look alike—at first I thought it was Scorpius in Uncle Harry's memory—but he isn't into the Dark Arts, not at all."

"He's a Malfoy," Dad said.

"And Lily's a Slytherin," Rose retorted. "You can't judge people by who their parents are or what house they're in; you judge people by their actions. You taught me that. Please, just—just judge Scorpius for himself. That's all I'm asking."

Dad tucked her hair behind her ear. "I just don't want to see you get hurt, Rosie. You can understand that, can't you?"

"Of course. But you can't protect me forever, Dad."

He frowned at her. "I'm going to try."

Rose sighed. "If it wasn't Scorpius, it would be some other boy. It has been some other boy, actually—"

"Who?" Dad demanded, sitting up. "When was this?"

Rose rolled her eyes and Mum actually laughed. "Third year," she answered for Rose. "Rose had a crush on Danny Wood, but he invited some other girl to go to Hogsmeade."

"Oliver's oldest? Isn't he half a dozen years older than you?"

"Four, but that's not the point. The point is, I got over him, and now I fancy Scorpius. I really, really do. I can understand why you and Mum don't want to go back there, but please, can we all just have dinner so you can get to know him? I'm sure Scorpius doesn't know what happened, either, or he would have suggested someplace else." She could _feel_ Mum's raised eyebrows behind her, but Dad's ears were reddening.

"We'll think about it," he said finally.

"Thank you, Daddy!" Rose hugged him tightly.

"That is not a yes, Rosie."

She sat back, arms still behind his neck. "I know, but if you'll just give him a chance, I'm sure—"

"And I don't want you seeing him until I make up my mind."

Rose dropped her arms. "What? But we've been together for months!"

He gave her a sharp look and Rose flushed.

"No, not like that, but—"

"No visits and no Floo," Dad said sternly. "You can owl."

"But, Daddy—"

"No buts. And if I catch you sneaking around, it is all over. Do you understand me, Rose?"

"But—" Rose turned to her mother, who shook her head slightly.

"Rose?"

She crossed her arms and glared. "I understand."

()()()()

Hermione waited until Rose reached her room (an event defined by a loud _slam_) before disagreeing with Ron. "Don't you think you're being a little harsh? She has a lot more freedom at Hogwarts."

"She's not at Hogwarts," Ron said, standing up and beginning to pace. "She's here, under my roof, and my rules."

"Ron," Hermione said warningly, "if we come down too hard on this, we're going to lose her."

"What are you talking about?"

"Rose and Scorpius are in the same house. They have lessons together, eat their meals together, play together, revise together, and they have for years, just like you and I did. I assume Ravenclaw girls can get into the boys' dormitory just like I could get into yours and Harry's, and goodness knows that castle has plenty of hidden places for a couple to find a little privacy. They've been dating for six months. You can't undo what's already been done, and if we're too harsh with Rose, she _will_ sneak around behind our backs."

"But she said—she said—"

"So they're not sleeping together. That doesn't mean they're not doing other things."

Ron looked horrified. "But she's a prefect!"

Hermione laughed. "How many times did we interrupt a prefect and their partner during patrols?"

His eyes narrowed. "That's why I said no visits."

"You're missing my point. If Rose and Scorpius have reached a certain level of intimacy—physically or emotionally—nothing we do is going to change that. Do you remember when we first got back from Australia, and my parents were so suspicious of anything to do with magic? They didn't want you coming over or me going to the Burrow. They wouldn't connect to the Floo network so we could talk. They wouldn't let us Apparate anywhere on the property and didn't want owls coming in. Remember? Remember how much we missed each other, how it pushed us closer together? Remember that first night after you learned how to Apparate silently, when you appeared in my room in the middle of the night? Sneaking out to Grimmauld Place? Training Crookshanks to take letters from owls?"

Ron sank down onto a chair. "You think they're in love with each other."

Hermione crossed the room and sat on the arm of the chair, her hand on his shoulder. "I don't know about Scorpius, but I know Rose is in love. It's written all over her face, if you would stop ranting and look at her."

Ron leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "This is all my fault. I made that crack about Malfoy on the platform her first year."

"I think we should find a way to make this work."

He sat bolt upright, nearly dislodging Hermione from her seat. "Malfoy Manor? Absolutely not!"

"I don't want to go back, either, but—"

"No buts," Ron said again. "I am not taking you back there. Never. It's not up for discussion, Hermione."

"Like I said, I don't want to go back, but I don't want to fight with Rose, either. Why can't we let her see Scorpius here, at our house, where we'll know what's going on?"

He tipped his head, considering.

"Rose said all she wanted was for us to judge Scorpius for himself. She's a good kid, Ron. Al and Scorpius have been friends for years, and he's been over to Harry's house several times. Even Hugo doesn't have anything bad to say about him except that he's vain about his hair. We deliberately chose to keep the uglier parts of the war hidden from Rose and Hugo to protect them from our experiences and prejudices. We can't penalize Rose for that."

"I do not like Draco Malfoy."

"I know you don't. I don't either, but there's been nothing in the last twenty years to indicate he's still involved with the Dark Arts. He even seems to be a reasonably honest businessman, and he's certainly a more involved father than a lot of kids have. You know it's mostly mothers on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, but he's there every term. But this isn't about Draco, it's about Scorpius. Come on, Ron. You know what it's like to stand in someone else's shadow, and I know what it's like to be judged by who my parents are."

He frowned at her. "That's not fair."

"Rose is seventeen. This could be her last summer at home. Do you really want to spend it fighting with her?"

()()()()

_Dear Scorpius,_

_You'll never believe what just happened. I told Mum and Dad about your invitation, and Dad just freaked out, wouldn't even consider it. It made me really angry that he wouldn't give you a chance, and I Disapparated to Uncle Harry's. I thought if I explained the situation to him, maybe he would talk some sense into Dad. But actually, what he did was take me into his Pensieve one night during the year they were hunting for Voldemort._

_Did you know my mum and dad and uncle Harry, and a few others, were held prisoner at Malfoy Manor? It seems to have been Voldemort's headquarters. Mum was tortured there by Bellatrix Lestrange just because she's Muggle-born. Uncle Harry says your dad was a Death Eater, that he took his dad's place when he was arrested. You and Teddy Lupin are second cousins! I don't know what to think; it's a lot to take in at once. I have to believe you didn't know either, because you would have told me if the bad blood between our families was more than schoolyard rivalry._

_This may change some things, but it doesn't change how I feel about you, and I hope it doesn't change how you feel about me. We're still the same people no matter what happened between our parents. Dad says I can't Floo or visit until he makes up his mind about your invitation, and I think it's best if I honor his wishes for now. Don't worry; there's no way I'm spending the whole summer without you._

_Love, _

_Rose_

Rose folded the letter, sealed it, and set it on her bedside cabinet. Her owl Athena was out hunting, so she would have to wait until morning to send the letter. She really didn't know what to think. Why had her parents never told her the real reason they didn't like the Malfoys? How were she and Scorpius ever going to overcome their families' prejudices? Did his dad still think her mum deserved to be tortured just because of the circumstances of her birth? Would Rose be able to convince her dad to let her see Scorpius, or would she end up sneaking out after all? And, most worrisome of all, what would Scorpius think when he found out? Because he hadn't known anything about this, right?

Right?


	5. Chapter 5

Scorpius Malfoy followed his father down the stone-flagged hallway. Scorpius had never been in the East Wing; although unspoken, he knew it was strictly forbidden. Besides, there was no need to visit since his parents had redesigned the gardens and created a new drive leading to the North Hall and its many branching rooms shortly after they were married. When he had received Rose's letter, he marched straight into the library and shoved it under his father's nose. Dad had turned even paler than usual but said nothing, just walked around his desk and beckoned Scorpius to follow him. They had been walking for nearly ten minutes, through the family's current rooms, across the ancient Central Hall, and now into the musty East Wing. Dad's steps left footprints in the dust; not even the house-elves came to this part of the house. He stopped at the far end of a portrait-lined hall and opened a door. The room was large and expansive, with multiple pieces of furniture grouped in the center under dust covers and a gilded mirror over a marble fireplace.

"How serious are you about this girl?"

"Serious enough," Scorpius said shortly. "Why?"

"Because this was where the Death Eater meetings took place."

"The—what?"

"After your grandfather was arrested at the Department of Mysteries, Voldemort made Malfoy Manor his personal headquarters. Bellatrix offered him the use of the space, and I think he liked the irony of ruling in the family estate while my father sat in a cell in Azkaban."

Scorpius frowned. "But she wasn't a Malfoy."

"But she was Mother's sister and Mother didn't protest. No one protested anything the Dark Lord did. Or if they did, they never lived to tell about it."

Scorpius walked around the room, touching the backs of hard chairs, the flat surfaces of tables. "Were you ever in here?"

"This is where my induction ceremony was held."

Scorpius stilled, then turned around. "You were a Death Eater." He'd heard the accusations at Hogwarts, but no one had ever had proof.

In answer, Dad pushed up his left sleeve. Scorpius had never seen his father in anything other than robes or long- sleeved dress shirts. Even when relaxing, he always wore a smoking jacket.

It was a faint scar, barely noticeable. A madly grinning skull and a serpent protruding from the mouth coiled around it. Scorpius stared at it for a long time, trying to absorb what his eyes were telling him. His family—his dad!—had been just as involved in helping Voldemort rise to power as Rose's family had been in stopping it.

"Did Voldemort force you to join the Death Eaters?"

Dad avoided eye contact, busying himself rolling down and re-buttoning his sleeve. "I volunteered. I was young and stupid, and I thought being from a pureblood family did make me better than everyone else. It was what I had been taught and I believed it."

Scorpius studied his father, who was unusually restless, tugging at his sleeves, adjusting his cufflinks, picking lint off his robes. He had known his father's family had sided with Voldemort. Dad had never tried to hide that, but this was more than ideological allegiance. And what Dad said about being pureblood—he had never taught Scorpius that. Family pride, yes; in magical talent, in wealth and land, in determination and resourcefulness, but not because of blood status. If anything, Dad stressed the hard work it had taken to rebuild the Malfoy name after the war.

"What changed your mind?"

"Two people. Hermione Granger was the first."

"Rose's mum?" Scorpius said incredulously.

He nodded. "She was top of our year, top of the school, really, and it wasn't all book smarts. It was like magic was intuitive for her, even though she was Muggle-born. I resented it at first, and then as I got older she started to make me think. She's not my favorite person, but you can't deny she is a brilliant, powerful witch."

"Why not?"

"Why isn't she my favorite person?" Dad rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know, Scorpius. She was such a know-it-all when we were kids, and even as an adult she's just so—so _Gryffindor._"

Apparently there was some house rivalry involved, after all. "You said two people. Who was the other one?"

"Albus Dumbledore."

"Your old headmaster?"

"Yes. The Dark Lord assigned me to kill him—" Dad held up his hand to stop Scorpius's questions— "and when I got the opportunity at the end of my sixth year, cornered him alone, or so I thought, on the Astronomy Tower, Dumbledore said he had known the whole year and had assigned Severus Snape to find out what I was planning. Dumbledore offered me and Mother protection with the Order of the Phoenix."

"The underground resistance Mr. Potter started?"

"No, you're thinking of Dumbledore's Army, which was the student resistance at Hogwarts. The Order of the Phoenix was created by Dumbledore during the first wizarding war and was composed of fully qualified wizards and witches."

"Did you accept his offer?"

"I was too scared. Voldemort was very powerful at that time, he had infiltrated the Ministry and was preparing to take it over, and I was doubtful that the Order could actually protect us. And I thought Dumbledore was a fool for continuing to fight what seemed inevitable and for trusting Snape. But I found myself unable to kill him."

"Snape was headmaster too, wasn't he? And he really was on Dumbledore's side. Al is named after him. After both of them."

Dad grimaced as if he had just swallowed something bitter. "Yes, I know. His birth announcement fueled the gossip mill for weeks. Snape was headmaster during my seventh year, the year the Dark Lord controlled Hogwarts and the Ministry. Before that he taught Potions and was Head of Slytherin House."

"But what do Dumbledore and Snape have to do with Rose's family?"

"Potter witnessed the entire exchange on the Astronomy Tower, and anything Potter knew, he told Weasley and Granger."

"But you said—"

"I thought we were alone because Potter was under his Invisibility Cloak."

Scorpius's face lit up. "The Cloak is great! I've been under it with Al a few times, and—" Catching his father's expression, he broke off and changed the subject. "Rose said something about prisoners?"

Dad sighed and turned to face the side wall. For the first time, Scorpius noticed a door nestled between the elaborate molding, exposed by the lack of furniture. "There is a cellar underneath this room. Ollivander, the wand maker, was held for well over a year. Luna Lovegood Scamander—her father was editor of _The Quibbler_ at the time and a vocal supporter of Dumbledore and Potter—Lovegood was taken from the Hogwarts Express at Christmas my seventh year. I watched the Death Eaters carry her off the train and arrived home to find she was already here. She remained in the cellar until Potter and Weasley broke them out."

"And Mrs. Weasley?"

Dad's left hand tightened into a fist, the knuckles whitening. "She was tortured by Bellatrix and nearly killed."

Scorpius's breath caught in his chest. And he had invited her to dinner as if it were a privilege to return! "How did they escape?"

"I'm still not sure. It was pure chaos. Potter and Weasley burst in from the cellar firing spells, but then Bellatrix had Gran—Mrs. Weasley with a knife to her throat, and they dropped their wands. Dobby, our old house-elf, distracted everyone by dropping the chandelier, Potter wrestled the wands out of my hands, stunned Father, and they Disapparated."

Scorpius hadn't realized he was pacing until he found himself directly in front of the fireplace. He turned around. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did I have to find out from Rose?"

"I knew I would have to tell you eventually, son, but I didn't know how. And I—I'm not proud of that part of my life. I wanted to keep it away from you for as long as possible." Dad gave him a stern look. "And if you had followed house rules and asked me or your mother before inviting the Weasleys for dinner, I would have told you then."

Once again, Scorpius changed the subject. "What about the final battle? Did you fight?"

"All of us were there. I avoided as many people as I could, Death Eaters and Order members alike, and mostly just defended myself when necessary. I had a mission then too, to retrieve something from the Room of Hidden Things, but Potter, Weasley, and Granger beat me to it."

Dad's expression was a strange mix of sadness, frustration, and—grief? Scorpius waited for him to continue.

"Your grandmother saved Potter's life."

Scorpius looked up. At least someone in his family had done the right thing. "She did?"

"The Dark Lord attempted to kill Potter in the Forbidden Forest, but something went wrong again. Mother was the one he sent to verify Potter was dead."

"And she lied? But that was so risky! If he had asked anyone else to check behind her, or if Potter twitched or attacked or _anything_, he would have known she lied!"

"Yes."

"Then why did she do it?"

"For me," Dad said simply. "She wanted to find her son, and she knew the victors would enter the castle. She wanted to be able to search for me."

Scorpius considered this. "So the things you did, and the things she did—they were to protect each other."

"Make no mistake, Scorpius. I was a supporter of the Dark Lord. I joined his forces willingly. I was young, foolish, and extremely arrogant. I thought he was going to succeed in his bid for power, and I did not want to be on the losing side. Once I realized he was a monster, that he would stop at nothing—absolutely nothing, I was motivated primarily by fear. Fear and a desire to survive. It was a horrible, desperate time. Worse than you can possibly imagine."

"I thought— Rose and I thought— we had no idea. Her parents are really upset, Dad. They won't even let us Floo-call."

"Hermione Weasley very nearly died here, Scorpius. Even then, Weasley was in love with her—we could hear him shouting her name from the cellar. Voldemort arrived less than five minutes after they Disapparated. He would have killed all three of them on the spot. He did—there—there was a massacre in here weeks later. It's why all the furniture is in the center of the room. We couldn't get the blood stains out of the floor."

Scorpius felt his own blood drain out of his face.

"Let's get out of here." Dad crossed to Scorpius, took him by the arm, and led him across the hall and out the original front door. They took a left at the first break in the hedge, and Dad cleared the vines from a stone bench. "Sit down, Scorpius."

"Did you—"

"Yes, I witnessed that too. As I said, you can't imagine the horror and terror the Dark Lord created wherever he went. Hell, he didn't even have to be present. People were terrified of the very idea of him."

"You should have told me." Scorpius stood abruptly and looked his father in the eye. "You should have told me when I became friends with Rose. And Al. I've been in his house!"

"Potter is absurdly forgiving. But I think there might be something different about a daughter."

Scorpius sighed, looking out over the formal gardens. This section didn't have the flowers and color his mother preferred, and the line where she stopped working was obvious.

"I love her, Dad. And Rose adores her family. They're all very close, and..."

"I'll write to Weasley, invite them somewhere else for dinner, but … this is a lot bigger than you and Rose. You should prepare for her family to be resistant for a long time, and keep your distance, at least for now. And Scorpius?" Dad rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Don't underestimate Mrs. Weasley."


	6. Chapter 6

"So, Ron, I hear you have a problem with Rose." George's voice was just a little too smug. Roxanne was not having a smooth transition into adolescence, and George was obviously delighted that Rose, whom Ron always bragged on, was creating trouble.

"With Malfoy, more like." Ron lined up the shot glasses and began pouring.

Bill joined them, carrying extra chairs from the tables set up in the Burrow's garden over to their usual spot underneath the willow. "What's he done now?"

"Rose is dating Scorpius Malfoy," Harry said.

"Draco's son?" Percy said, taking a chair from Bill and unfolding it with a hard shake.

"That's the one."

"When did this happen?" Bill said.

"Six months ago, according to Rosie. You two have daughters," Ron said, handing glasses of Firewhisky to Bill and Percy. "How do I convince her to get rid of him?"

"What about me?" George demanded. "I have a daughter."

"Me too," Harry said.

"They have two. Twice the experience."

"Twice the confusion," Bill said, tossing back his drink.

"What I want to know," Percy said, rearranging his chair to get the sun out of his eyes, "is why everyone thinks that just because I have daughters, I know what to do with them."

"Well, I can tell you this, Ron," Bill said, pouring himself a refill. "Don't compete with the boyfriend. You'll lose."

"Rosie and I have a great relationship."

"Yes, you do. Because since the day she was born, you've been telling her how much you love her. How she means everything to you and how you'll always love her, no matter what. And because you've made a point of never lying to her, she believes you. So when you try to cut her off from someone she cares about, when you force her to choose, she'll choose the boy. Because Daddy promised to always love her no matter what, and she thinks she can persuade you to change your mind. And she's right."

Percy, George, Ron, and Harry contemplated this for a moment. Dominique had dated a variety of boys, not all of whom were traditional choices for a witch from a prominent family.

"That's good advice," Percy said. "Boys are the only thing Molly and I argue over. And clothes," he added. "But that's really about boys, anyway."

"A Muggle football player is one thing," Ron said, referring to one of Dom's previous boyfriends.

"He was twenty, and she was sixteen!"

Ron ignored Bill's interruption. "But this is a Malfoy we're talking about."

"What is it you don't like about him, other than his last name?" Harry said.

"His first name," Ron and George said together, and the Weasleys laughed.

"I'm serious," Harry said. "Al and Scorpius have been friends since first year. He's not a bad kid, Ron. Not a bully like his father was, and I've never got even a hint of pureblood prejudice from him. Scorpius has been to my house, and Al has been to Malfoy Manor."

"Would you let Lily go?"

Harry opened his mouth, then closed it, looking defeated.

"Thank you."

"Why are you talking about going to Malfoy Manor?" George said.

"We've been invited for dinner," Ron said bitterly. "The whole family, like some media stunt. 'Pureblood families with generational feud united by young lovers.' It's disgusting."

"You don't want to take Hermione," Bill said shrewdly.

"Hell, no, I don't want to take Hermione! You saw what she was like when we left that place." It had been to Bill's house that they Disapparated when they escaped Malfoy Manor over twenty years ago.

"What does Hermione say about it?" Percy said.

Ron snorted and drained his shot glass. "Hermione thinks we should go. She thinks we should do this for Rose."

"I've rarely gone wrong listening to my wife," George said with surprising seriousness.

There was a chorus of general agreement.

Ron slouched down in his chair and leaned his head back. "It doesn't matter what I do, I'm screwed. If I say no, Rose will be pissed at me, and I don't think Hermione will be too pleased about it, either. If I say yes ... Merlin, I just—"

Harry tapped his glass on the arm of his chair. "What if you didn't go to Malfoy Manor? What if you had dinner with Draco and Astoria somewhere else?"

"Oh, they're 'Draco and Astoria' now, are they?"

"Our sons are friends. That requires a certain level of cordiality."

Ron sighed. "You're sure I can't just forbid her to see him, or owl him, or even think of him, ever again?"

"I'm sure that won't work," Bill said. "She's seventeen, Ron. She can Apparate, she has a broomstick, she can do magic outside of school. She'll spend the next year with Malfoy at Hogwarts no matter what you do. Besides, what were the three of you doing when you were seventeen?"

"Nearly biting it at Malfoy Manor. No, wait—Hermione and I were eighteen by then."

Harry winced. "Go somewhere else, Ron. After what I showed her the other night, Rose will understand why you and Hermione don't want to go back to Malfoy Manor."

"What did you show her the other night?" George said.

"Bloody git took her into the Pensieve." Ron scowled at his best friend.

"Of Hermione's torture?" Percy said, eyebrows raised.

Harry gave a curt nod. George whistled.

"For Merlin's sake, Potter, why?"

Ron was pleased to hear Bill use Harry's surname. They only did that when they were upset with him about something, usually to do with Ginny.

"Because she called them cowards, and it pissed me off," Harry said flatly. "And the only reason she said that, or even thought it—" He pointed a finger at Ron— "is because you and Hermione refuse to tell her and Hugo about the war."

"They're our kids, that's our choice," Ron said.

"And I've been telling you for years it's the wrong one, and this proves me right. If Rose had known what really happened, she would have told Scorpius, and this situation could have been handled without exploding in your faces."

"Well, the cat's among the pixies now," Percy said, and Harry and Ron settled for glaring at each other. "I think Harry has the right idea about meeting them outside of Malfoy Manor. If you come down too hard on Rose, it's going to drive her towards this boy, not away from him."

"That's what Hermione said," Ron muttered.

"Since Hermione seems to be handling this much better than you, what else did she say?" Bill asked.

"I told Rose she couldn't meet with Malfoy or Floo him until I decided what to do, but Hermione thinks we should have him over."

"An excellent idea," Bill said immediately. "You can keep an eye on him, see how he treats Rose."

"I think we're all in agreement," Percy said, looking at Bill, George, and Harry for confirmation. "Listen to your wife, Ron."

He groaned.

"And do you mind telling Hermione I said that? I could stand for it to get back to Audrey."

()()()()

Ron sat at the kitchen table with his daughter. He had thought a lot about what Hermione said about the first year after her parents came back from Australia, how the two of them had bonded despite her parents' efforts to keep them apart, and after discussing the situation with his brothers, finally conceded Hermione was right. The best place for Malfoy was right under Ron's nose, and the kid should be Flooing in any minute. With a rush of sound, emerald-green flames appeared in the fireplace, followed by a spinning figure. Rose jumped up as Scorpius stepped into the room.

"Hi," she said, looking shy.

"Hi."

They swayed towards each other, and Ron cleared his throat.

"Oh! Dad, this is my boyfriend, Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius, this is my dad, Ron Weasley."

Although Ron had seen him on the platform at King's Cross many times, they had never actually met. Ron stood directly in front of the boy, pleased when he had to tip his head back to look up at him and rather disappointed at the absence of cracking bones as he gripped Malfoy's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

Ron glowered.

"I want to apologize. I didn't ask my parents before I invited your family to dinner, and my dad was pretty upset at my rudeness. I didn't know what—I didn't know about the history between our families, and I didn't mean to stir up bad memories. I'm sorry."

The boy was obviously nervous, clenching and unclenching his hands at his sides, but he continued to look Ron in the eye. Ron took his time looking him over. Malfoy's clothes and shoes were neat and well-maintained, obviously of high quality but not flashy or pretentious.

"Have a seat," Ron said grudgingly. "There are still some of my mother's biscuits from yesterday's family dinner. You don't want Hermione's, they're dreadful."

Scorpius looked at Rose, startled.

"It's true," she said, smiling. "Mum can cook okay, but she's a terrible baker. She doesn't have the patience for it. Do you want something to drink?"

"I'll be right outside," Ron said loudly, ignoring Rose's glare as she took glasses down from the cupboard.

He nearly hit Hermione with the door.

"I thought we were supposed to give them some privacy," Ron said, amused.

"Well, yes, but—I just wanted to know how the introductions went."

"What do you think Malfoy told him?"

"I don't know," Hermione said thoughtfully. "His version of events, I guess."

Ron scoffed.

"No, I mean … we didn't tell Rose everything we knew about the Malfoys' involvement in the war. Maybe Draco told Scorpius."

Ron reached for the doorknob. "I'm going to check on them."

Hermione smacked his hand away. "You are not! He hasn't even been here for five minutes. Come sit down. I'll play chess."

"I don't want to play chess. I want to make sure Malfoy isn't taking advantage of my daughter."

"In the kitchen? Honestly, Ron."

"We've done it in the kitchen."

"Yes, but not when we first got together! Think, Ron. We never would have had sex in your parents' kitchen that first summer. Come on, we don't want Rose to know we're out here."

Ron resisted Hermione's efforts to pull him away from the door. "I want Malfoy to know I'm out here!"

"He does know that, Ron. But if you get any closer to that door, it's going to break your nose when they open it."

Ron allowed his wife to lead him to the sofa. "Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"

"I know forbidding them to see each other is the wrong thing to do, and so do you."

He sighed. He did know that. Rose was a good kid, but she was stubborn and strong-willed, like her mother. "She's so young to be serious about a boy. Wasn't it just last year we put her on the Hogwarts Express for the first time?"

Hermione smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. "It feels that way, doesn't it? And now she's of age and has her Apparition license. Next summer she might not even be home. We need to make the most of the time we have left, Ron."

"Then why are we sharing it with that git?"

"Because that's what Rose wants."

"She's too young to know what she wants," Ron grumbled. "It's been five minutes now, I'm going to—"

Hermione crawled into his lap. "You are not!"

"Hermione..."

"They're talking, Ron. Goodness knows they have plenty to talk about."

Ron brightened. "Maybe, when Rosie finds out about the Malfoys, maybe she'll decide she doesn't like him any more and this will all be over."

"Yes, because Rose is such a prejudiced young woman."

"There has to be something we can do, Hermione." He looked over his shoulder at the kitchen door. "I don't hear anything. Are you sure—"

"If you dump me in the floor, you will regret it."

Reluctantly, he sat back. "Seventeen. What do you know at seventeen? She's much too young to be serious about a boy."

"I think we should count our blessings."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I was seventeen, I modified my parents' memories, sent them to the other side of the world, and spent nine months in a tent with two boys, searching for the darkest wizard of all time. Having dinner with the Malfoys doesn't seem so bad in comparison."

"Have you been talking to Bill?"

She leaned forward and kissed him. "Not particularly."

He kissed her back, twisting a curl around his finger and thinking about later, when Malfoy was gone and—what if Malfoy was kissing Rose right now? Ron broke away and stood up, careful to make sure Hermione landed on her feet. "I'm going in there."

"You promised Rose if they stayed in the kitchen you would leave them alone."

Ron crossed his arms and glared, first at his wife, then at the bloody kitchen door. It opened without warning, causing him to take a hasty step back to avoid being hit.

"Letter for you, Dad," Rose said, and before Ron could say anything, or even get a good look at what Malfoy was doing, she had closed the door again.

"Who's it from?"

Ron rejoined Hermione on the sofa. The creamy parchment was thick and textured, with a double M pressed into the green wax seal. "Malfoy." He opened the letter and held it where they could read it together.

_Weasley,_

_Scorpius told me of his thoughtless invitation and the distress it caused. I would be inclined to apologize except that you obviously chose not to tell Rose the truth, either. The invitation still stands: you, your wife, and your children are welcome to dine with us in the North Hall Saturday next. I think you'll find it a welcome change from your last visit. I am not especially anticipating an evening in your company, but Scorpius is enthusiastic, and I will not allow you—or any one, or any thing—to stand in the way of my son's happiness. We would, of course, be delighted to host you in one of The Excalibur's private dining rooms should you prefer. Respond at your earliest convenience._

_Malfoy_

"I don't believe it," Ron muttered. "He's even a git in writing. Delighted, my arse."

"They must live in a different section of the manor now," Hermione said. "The North Hall?"

"Small comfort."

"But it is. I was worried—my biggest fear was having a flashback, a waking nightmare, but if we're not going to be in the same room, surrounded by the same things, I think it might be okay."

"Hermione—"

"Look, Ron," she said, pointing at the letter. "All he wants is for Scorpius to be happy. Isn't that what we want for Rose? If Draco is willing to put aside our differences, why can't we?"

"Because you damn near bloody died," Ron shouted, standing up and throwing the parchment aside. "What if it happens again? What if someone attacks you, or Rose? What if I'm forced to choose between you? I can't do that, Hermione. I just can't."

Ron shoved the kitchen door open, ignored Malfoy's guilty start as he dropped Rose's hand, and crossed the room in two long strides. He wrenched open the back door, slammed it behind him, and Summoned his broomstick.


	7. Chapter 7

"What was that?" Scorpius said, staring at the back door Mr. Weasley had nearly torn off its hinges.

"Mum and Dad are fighting about us," Rose said.

Scorpius turned at the sound of her voice; she was crying. He reached for her hand and squeezed it. He hated the implications, hated what they were doing to Rose, hated having been kept in the dark. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"But—"

Rose wiped her cheeks. "No buts," she said firmly. "That's the whole point. None of what happened was your fault. I mean—" She looked down at their joined hands. "You don't think less of my mum because she's Muggle-born, do you?"

"Of course not! How could you even—oh." Scorpius's indignation drained away. Rose knew better, she just needed reassurance. "Nobody deserves to be treated the way your mother was, Rose. Nobody."

She nodded. "I'm sorry, I just—"

"Don't worry about it. Dad said he was going to invite them somewhere else so your mum wouldn't have to come back to the Manor."

Tears welled in Rose's eyes again. "I don't know, Scorpius. My dad has hated yours for a long time. Uncle Harry said your dad made fun of Mum being Muggle-born for years before that night. Victoire told me that our grandfathers hated each other, that there has been bad blood between the Weasleys and the Malfoys for generations. My family have been blood traitors forever."

"Nice of them to tell us," he muttered. "They didn't want us to continue the feud, but they're not willing to stop it."

"Your dad is."

Scorpius felt a tiny bit better. Then the kitchen door swung open and Hugo entered.

Rose scowled. "You're not allowed in here."

He ignored her and faced Scorpius. "What did you say to my mum?"

"Nothing!"

"It's none of your business, Hugo, now get out!" Rose's face was bright red, and she stood up from the table.

"Mum's crying in her room, and I heard Dad yelling, and I know it's about the two of you!"

"Yes, it is—us, not you. So get. Out. Now!"

Scorpius met Hugo's glare without saying anything. He had always got along with Rose's little brother, but it looked like that might change.

"I hope you love her."

"_Hugo!"_

"Because this is an awful lot of bother just to shag a Weasley."

Scorpius felt his own temper rising to the surface and forced himself to stay seated. He shouldn't be surprised that Hugo had heard the rumors, not with a sister and three female cousins at Hogwarts.

"And if you tear my family apart for nothing, if you hurt Rose, I will hurt you more than you can possibly imagine."

Scorpius gritted his teeth and counted to ten before he trusted himself to speak. "It's not like that."

Out of the corner of his eye, Scorpius saw Rose's gaze going back and forth between him and her brother.

With a final glare, Hugo swiped the last biscuit and left the room.

"Is this about that stupid bet? Getting off with a Weasley girl?"

"You know about that?"

"Of course we do. Why do you think Dom never dated the same boy twice?"

Scorpius kept his mouth shut.

Rose sat down and put her head in her hands. "What are we going to do, Scorpius?"

He had hoped this visit would help somehow, that if he and Rose could just talk about what happened, if her dad would allow him over, that—that what? That her parents would like him? That fighting on different sides of a war could be forgotten with biscuits and tea, as if they were six years old again? He was beginning to wish he hadn't eaten anything.

"Do you—" He swallowed and forced himself to finish the question. "Do you want to break up?"

Rose's head jerked up, and her face paled so that her freckles stood out even more than usual. "No! Unless—do _you_ want to break up?"

"Never," Scorpius said fiercely, taking both his hands in hers. "We'll get through this together. Okay?"

"Do you promise?" Rose looked up at him with brown eyes wide.

Scorpius felt the now-familiar rush of emotion, the desire to make her happy, the need to make her smile. "You give your dad that look right there, and the kneazle's in the bag."

()()()()

Rose lay across her bed with a copy of _Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration. _She had chosen the difficult text in hopes it would distract her from thinking about Scorpius, but it wasn't working. It had been a week since his visit. Dad still wasn't letting them Floo and had yet to make a decision about dinner, which was now only five days away. Scorpius's last letter was lying on her desk; she hadn't bothered answering it because there was nothing new to say. Well, she had been cornered by her cousins—all twelve of them, counting Teddy—at the Burrow yesterday, but since that conversation had disintegrated into who should have been told what about the war with no consensus on what to do, Rose didn't see how it was helpful. She had just started chapter two for the fourth time when someone knocked on her door. She sat up and slammed the book shut. Even Hugo would be a welcome distraction.

"Uncle Harry! What are you doing here?" Rose glanced at her clock. It was barely quitting time; he must have come straight from Auror Headquarters.

"Inviting you to dinner."

Rose fiddled with the cover of her book. It would be nice to get out of the house, to get away from the tension between her parents, but she had planned to press her dad for an answer tonight. And she still wasn't sure how she felt about Uncle Harry taking her into the Pensieve.

"No, thanks."

"Ginny is making shepherd's pie."

Shepherd's pie was one of Rose's favorite dishes.

"Of course, Al's having a friend over, so I'll understand if you don't want to be surrounded by boys."

She dropped her book. "Scorpius is coming?"

Uncle Harry winked. "Six o'clock. Don't be late."

"I won't!" Rose threw open the doors to her wardrobe. What was she going to _wear_?

()()()()

Rose Apparated to the boundary of her godparents' property and found Lily waiting for her at the gate.

"Is he here yet?"

"Not yet." Lily eyed the rucksack thrown over Rose's shoulder. "Come on, you can get ready in my room."

"Thanks." Rose followed her into the house and up the stairs. "I didn't want to do too much before I left. I didn't want to make Mum and Dad suspicious."

"Have they said anything about Saturday?"

"No," Rose said, whipping her t-shirt off as soon as Lily closed her door. "I was going to press Dad for an answer tonight—at the very least, we owe the Malfoys the courtesy of an answer, even if it's 'no'—but when Uncle Harry said Scorpius was coming…."

"You forgot about everything else." Lily sat cross-legged on her bed.

"Uh-huh." Rose kicked off her shorts. "It's been a week since I've seen him, Lily!"

"A whole week? That's, like, an eternity."

Rose was digging in her rucksack and didn't notice Lily's sarcasm. "I know! Which do you think?"

"That one," Lily said, pointing to the blouse in Rose's right hand.

"What about my hair?" Rose said anxiously, doing up the buttons on her blouse. "Does it look okay?"

Lily got up and opened her desk drawer. "Let's pull the front back and leave the rest of it down. It looked so pretty like that at the last Hogsmeade visit."

Rose stepped into her skirt and was just pulling it over her hips when the door opened. Both girls shrieked, and Al ducked as Lily threw her hairbrush.

"Albus Potter, haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Rose demanded.

"Well, how was I to know you weren't dressed?"

"I don't know, maybe because _the door was closed_?" Lily said, glaring. "Here, Rose, sit down. I'll do it. What do you want?" she said to her brother.

"Scorpius is here."

"What!" Rose shrieked again and made to stand up.

Lily pushed her back into the chair. "He can wait five minutes, Rose."

"He's in the back garden. Mum and Dad haven't seen him yet."

"Does he know I'm here?"

"Why do you think he's waiting in the garden?"

Rose took a deep breath and glanced at the clock. If she hurried, they could have almost twenty minutes to themselves….

"Al?"

He stopped, one hand on the doorknob.

"Thank you."

He grinned. "You owe me, cuz."

"I should have known," Rose muttered, turning back to watch Lily's movements in the mirror.

"Still, it's so romantic. Sneaking out to a secret rendezvous … Gryffindor and Slytherin, united by love…."

Rose scowled. "We're Ravenclaws."

Lily set down the brush. "I'm talking about your parents."

"They're not united yet."

"It's going to be okay, Rose," Lily said, her eyes fixed on Rose's reflection. "Your parents love you, and they want you to be happy. Scorpius makes you happy. We'll convince them."


	8. Chapter 8

Scorpius stood under the large oak tree in the Potters' back garden, feeling like an idiot. Al knew that Scorpius didn't much like surprises, but Al had left him here with instructions to stay out of sight of the house. Scorpius had a nagging suspicion that Mr. Weasley—Mr. George Weasley, of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes—had a new product in the works, and that he, Scorpius, was about to be a test subject.

And then he heard her voice.

"Scorpius? Are you out here?"

It was Rose. In a fitted olive-green shirt with her curly auburn hair spilling over her shoulders, she looked beautiful. Al Potter was the best damn friend anyone had ever had.

Her face lit up when she saw him, and Scorpius barely got his arms out in time to catch her. "I missed you so much!"

"Don't talk," she said, smashing her mouth against his with more enthusiasm than finesse. "We've got almost twenty minutes…."

Scorpius didn't need convincing. It had been ages since they had kissed, _really_ kissed. Last week, in her parents' kitchen, he had hardly dared to hold her hand. She had kissed him goodbye, a simple, closed-mouth kiss. But this … this was a kiss. Rose's hands were behind his neck, one hand sifting through his hair, and she tilted her head. Scorpius accepted her invitation and deepened the kiss, savoring the familiar taste and feel of her. She had stepped into his embrace, pressing the entire length of her body against his, and he shifted one hand from her shoulder to the small of her back to hold her there. He met the hem of her untucked shirt and slipped his hand beneath it, tracing the soft skin of her lower back. She probably wouldn't let him, not here, not at her aunt and uncle's house, outside….

He leaned back, grateful for the solid tree behind him as Rose broke away, kissing down his neck, and the bones in his legs turned to jelly. He grasped her face between both hands and kissed her again, sliding his hands back into her hair, using it to pull her head back, to dominate the kiss, and he didn't care where they were, he wanted to touch her. He kept one hand fisted in her curls and slid the other up her back, underneath her shirt. Rose didn't protest, her tongue still in his mouth. He felt her stomach muscles spasm as he stroked his hand over them, and his hopes rose as his hand moved higher, over her ribs. Maybe … it had been so long, maybe she would….

But her left hand caught his wandering one, pulling it back down to their sides and holding it there. She was still kissing him, so Scorpius tugged his hand free and returned it to her bare back. He felt her stiffen slightly at his touch, but when he kept his hand there without making a move to unhook her bra, she relaxed again. Rose, his Rose, beautiful and warm and so, so soft….

"Rose, Scorpius, Mum says you've got two minutes!" It was James, calling from the back door.

Rose pulled away.

Scorpius pulled her back. "We've got two minutes," he said, nuzzling her neck.

She hummed in the back of her throat, then pushed against his chest. "It's going to take me that long to catch my breath."

He smirked.

"Shut up," Rose said, giving him the playful smack he'd finally recognized as flirting in fifth year. "You've got lipstick on your mouth."

He scrubbed vigorously as she smoothed her hair and straightened her shirt.

"Do I look okay?"

Scorpius paused in examining his fingers for traces of makeup. What she looked was thoroughly snogged. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips were swollen, and if you looked closely, the pulse at the hollow of her throat was beating faster than usual. But her family wouldn't look at her that closely.

He hoped.

()()()()

"Hello, Scorpius," Mrs. Potter said warmly.

"Hi, Mrs. Potter. Thanks for dinner."

"Of course. Wash your hands, please. You too, Rose."

Scorpius met James at the sink. "What are you doing here? I thought you were getting your own place."

"I did. But nobody cooks like Mum, so..."

"He's been making the rounds," Lily said scornfully, handing Scorpius the towel. "He was at Aunt Fleur's house last night, and Aunt Angelina's the night before that, and Grandma's the night before _that_. You're going to have to go to Aunt Hermione's soon, or you'll hurt her feelings."

"I'm saving Aunt Hermione for Friday. Take away night."

"You're hopeless," Lily said.

"That title goes to these two," James said, pointing at Scorpius and Rose. "Honestly, you're as bad as the stories Dad tells about Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. I thought you two were never going to 'fess up."

"We beat Mum and Dad by two and a half years!"

"Don't let your dad hear you say that, Rosie."

Mr. Potter had entered the kitchen. Rose turned and flung her arms around his neck, and he picked her up off the ground. Even after several years' friendship with Al, James, and various Weasleys, the spontaneity and affection in this family caught Scorpius by surprise.

"Thank you for arranging this, Uncle Harry."

"I didn't arrange anything," Mr. Potter said, taking a seat at the head of the table. "I simply invited my goddaughter for dinner as I've done countless times before. If Al happened to invite her boyfriend on the same night, well, I haven't anything to do with that."

Rose and the rest of the Potters were grinning widely as the family began to help themselves.

"Thank you for not arranging anything, sir," Scorpius said, feeling his own smile threatening.

"You may thank me, Scorpius, by staying away from the bedrooms and keeping your hands where I can see them at all times."

Scorpius fumbled the vegetables, much to James's and Al's amusement. He didn't dare look at Rose; he was sure her face was as hot as his felt. "No, sir. I mean, yes, sir. I mean—"

"We won't do anything you and Aunt Ginny wouldn't have done," Rose said.

Scorpius looked up as everyone, except for Mr. Potter, laughed. Rose was blushing slightly, but her expression was pure mischief.

"She's got you there, Harry," Mrs. Potter said.

Scorpius flushed hotter still at that implication.

"Really, Mum, we have company," James protested.

"Rose started it."

"No, I didn't, it was Uncle Harry."

"And I'll end it too."

"Are you sure you want to get involved with this family, Scor?" Al said. "There's still time to break it off."

Scorpius looked across the table at Rose, who was smiling at the antics of her family. Al was teasing, but it was a good question. As reassuring as it was that the Potters were welcoming and messing around as usual, the fact remained that they were at Rose's aunt and uncle's house, not her parents'. Rose's smile faded under the intensity of his stare, and the whole table quieted.

"I'm sure about Rose." He broke eye contact with her to face Mr. Potter, who studied him for several seconds, then nodded.

"In that case, have some wine." He summoned Scorpius's glass. "You're going to need it."

()()()()

Rose doubled over laughing as Al nearly set himself on fire for the third time this evening.

"Give it up, Potter," Scorpius said, gathering the smoking Snap cards. "You were born to lose."

"Say that on a broomstick, Malfoy," Al retorted, brushing ash from his shirt.

"Daddy!" Rose gasped.

Everyone looked up, hands and bodies frozen in mid-motion. Everyone except for James.

"Hi, Uncle Ron," he said easily. "We were just about to deal another hand. Want in?"

"I came for Rose. You're thirty minutes past curfew, young lady."

Rose felt her face flame, with anger or embarrassment, she wasn't sure. "I don't have a curfew here."

"You have one with him."

It was anger. Dad wouldn't even look at Scorpius, much less call him by name.

"Go on." Scorpius's voice was low in her ear. "Owl me tomorrow."

Rose looked at him, realized she didn't want to have this fight in front of her godparents and cousins, and stood up. Then she turned back around and kissed Scorpius, long enough to make her point, but short enough that he wouldn't get punched. "My stuff is in Lily's room. I'll be right back."

When she came downstairs, Dad and Uncle Harry were talking in the kitchen. They shut up when they saw her. Dad made to guide her to the fireplace, but Rose sidestepped him and continued walking.

"I'll Apparate, thank you." She crossed the garden, closed the gate behind her, and since Dad's footsteps hadn't followed, took an extra moment to concentrate on her destination. By the time she landed in her own garden, Dad was storming out the front door.

"How did you find out?"

"Hugo mentioned that Harry had stopped by, and I thought he might be up to something. Then Harry Floo-called and told us. Your mum convinced me to leave you alone, that we could trust you to have dinner and come home, but she was wrong, wasn't she?"

"If you're talking about breaking curfew, that's not fair. I've never had a curfew at Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny's. I had no reason to think tonight was different because I had no reason to think you knew Scorpius was there. In fact, if I had come home early, that might have made you suspicious."

The muscle in Dad's jaw ticked. He hated to be proven wrong.

"I was actually considering saying yes, Rose."

"Well, it's about time."

"Rose." That was his "you're approaching the line" voice, but she didn't care.

"We received the invitation over a week ago! You've been nothing short of rude to the Malfoys, and especially to Scorpius!" Rose's eyes filled with tears as she remembered her father standing like a statue in the doorway, refusing to acknowledge anyone else in the room.

"That doesn't give you the right to sneak around!"

"I told you the truth and you don't care!" she shouted, crying in earnest now. "I was honest, and you're treating me like one of your dark wizards! We didn't have to tell you, Dad, we could have sneaked around all summer. But I didn't want to go behind your and Mum's backs. I trusted you to give Scorpius a chance, but I was wrong. I can't trust you at all!"

"Rose!"

She ignored her father's outstretched hand and ran past him into the house, telling herself he only looked devastated because her eyes were blurred with tears.


	9. Chapter 9

Rose lay across her bed, but this time she wasn't even trying to read. She was thinking about Uncle Harry, about dinner tonight and the Pensieve her first night home, about how different Uncle Harry was from Dad. Dad was treating her like a child, trying to control who she saw, who she talked to, where she went and when she came back, but Uncle Harry was treating her like an adult. She had never really placed it before, not until tonight, but in taking her into the Pensieve, Uncle Harry had shown a lot of faith in her. She hadn't even known he owned a Pensieve. She had asked them tonight, and her cousins, his own children, had never been in it. Uncle Harry thought she deserved to know what had happened between her parents and the Malfoys and that she was mature enough to handle it, unlike her parents, who always wanted to shield her from reality. Uncle Harry had given her a chance to spend time with Scorpius; granted, it was mostly supervised time, but Dad wasn't even willing to do that. She knew he had only allowed Scorpius over last week to appease Mum, a fact proven by his refusal to repeat the offer. Rose had turned seventeen in October, and her dad still frowned when she had a glass of champagne on New Year's. Uncle Harry had poured wine for Scorpius at dinner, then for her, Al, Ginny, and James without comment. She was an adult; she deserved to know the role her parents played in the war, to have a boyfriend, to have a drink. No big speech, no fuss, just … respect.

It felt good.

Someone knocked on her door.

"Who is it?" She didn't want company. At least not from her family. Scorpius, on the other hand….

"It's Mum. May I come in?"

Rose opened the door.

"I'm not going to say anything about the fight tonight. That's between you and your dad."

"Good." Rose flopped onto her bed.

Mum pulled the desk chair over. "I came to tell you a story."

"Oh, Mum, I'm not a baby!"

"At the end of my sixth year, I became fearful the Death Eaters would capture and interrogate my parents for information on Harry. So I modified their memories and convinced them their names were Monica and Wendell Wilkins, who didn't have a daughter and whose life ambition was to move to Australia."

Rose sat up, glad her mother had ignored her protest. Rose stared for several seconds, trying to process the bombshell. Her mother, breaking the law? An actual _crime_, a violation of the Muggle Protection Act? It was hard enough to believe some of the stories Dad and Uncle Harry told about her sneaking around Hogwarts, but…. "But—but—but that's illegal!"

"Yes, it was."

"But—you work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement!"

"Yes, I do." Mum smiled.

"But—does anyone know?"

"Your dad, your godparents, and your grandparents—all of them."

"What about—"

"Your cousins don't know," Mum said firmly. "Harry and Ginny agreed this was my story to tell, and I've never told it since the day we told Molly and Arthur. Most of your uncles don't know the full story."

Rose couldn't imagine. To send her parents away, to not see or hear from them for a year, would be awful. To erase their memory of her….

"It must have been really bad," she whispered. "The war, I mean. If you—if you had to make your parents forget about you."

"You can't imagine the fear and the horror, Rose, and I'm very proud of that fact. Harry had no choice; if he didn't go after Voldemort, Voldemort was coming after him. But your dad and I, like most of your family, chose to fight for ourselves and our children. If we lived long enough to have any," Mum said wryly.

But Rose didn't find anything funny about this story. Like that night in Uncle Harry's study, the guilt and shame nearly overwhelmed her. Her parents _chose_ to fight. Uncle Harry said most of the Muggle-borns had gone into hiding abroad. Mum could have done that, could have gone to Australia with her own parents, but she didn't. No wonder Uncle Harry had been angry at Rose's accusation. _Cowards._

"What happened when you found them?"

"When I restored their memories, my parents were furious. Furious and deeply hurt. I had kept a lot of what was happening hidden from them, so they didn't fully appreciate the danger they had been in. They felt I had used magic against them and violated their trust. For a while, I didn't know if we would ever get past it."

Rose had noticed before that her mother's relationship with her own parents and her relationship with her in-laws was different, and not in the way you would expect. This explained a lot.

"Magic was a gulf between me and my parents, and after Australia they were extremely cautious. I had spent most of my school holidays with Ron and Harry, but Mum and Dad insisted I stay with them if we were going to repair our relationship. Because your dad comes from a wizarding family, they assumed he had influenced me to cast the charm."

"They didn't like Dad because of his family, just like he doesn't like Scorpius because of his?"

"The same idea. My parents had met Molly and Arthur, chatted with them on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, had the kind of casual relationship you have with the parents of your children's friends. A much more amicable relationship than we have with the Malfoys. But your gran and granddad wouldn't allow your dad in the house. They wouldn't allow me to go to the Burrow, although I insisted for a few special events, like Harry's and Ginny's birthdays. They wouldn't allow me to do any magic in the house or anywhere on our property, which meant I couldn't Apparate to meet your dad. They refused to connect to the Floo network or allow owls in. Your dad and I had to use the Muggle post, which takes days each way. It was horrible and I hated it."

"But you were of age." Rose did the math quickly. "Even in the Muggle world. You were eighteen, you and Dad both. You could do whatever you wanted!"

"But what I wanted, Rose, was a relationship with my parents, and I wasn't going to get that by defying them."

Rose considered this. It sounded a lot like her and Scorpius's situation, if for different reasons. "What did you do?"

"I lied," Mum said simply. "When Mum and Dad went back to work, I was home alone all day. I wasn't quite defiant enough to have Ron over, and your grandparents—your dad's parents, I mean—knew I wasn't supposed to be at the Burrow, so we avoided both our parents to spend time together. I honored my parents' wishes to have no magic in the house and walked into the business district to Disapparate in an alley without being seen. Your dad and I would spend the day together, then I would Apparate back and be home before my parents returned from work."

Rose stared at her mother again. Was she saying….

"I do not think you should sneak around with Scorpius. What I'm trying to say is that I understand, and because of that, I hope you'll listen to me. It was fun at first, thrilling. Our romance was new, and keeping it private made it feel special. But the guilt ate away at me and your dad too. He started to resent me not doing things with his family—remember this was right after your uncle Fred died—and I resented his resentment. In some ways, it was a relief to go to Hogwarts and leave both Ron and my parents behind. Eventually I realized I needed to tell my parents the truth if Ron and I were going to stay together."

"What did you say?" Rose said, fascinated by this rebellious view of her goody-goody mum.

"I told my parents that I would respect their wishes to not have Ron or magic—honestly, I think they saw them as one and the same—in the house, but that I was not going to avoid him or any of my other magical friends, and as his girlfriend, I was going to spend part of the holiday with his family. I loved them very much and wanted them in my life, but I was a witch, and I was going to live in the magical community."

"I heard Dad—in the Pensieve," Rose said quietly. "I asked Uncle Harry if that was when you two got together, but he said he wasn't there when you woke up."

At the mention of the Pensieve, Mum had stood and walked to the window, staring through her own reflection to the night sky. "No, Harry wasn't there when I woke up. He was digging Dobby's grave."

Rose winced.

Mum had a hand to the base of her throat, the same motion she had made the night Rose told her parents about Scorpius's invitation. The knife. The knife that killed Dobby was the same knife Bellatrix Lestrange had used when she threatened Mum. And Mum had been cut, just slightly … Rose had seen the blood, but there was no scar from that night.

At least, no visible scar.

"Mum?"

She jumped. "Oh, I'm sorry, Rose."

"What did Dad say when you woke up?"

Mum smiled. "That was the first time he told me he loved me. I knew—the whole Manor knew—but he wouldn't let me say it back. Said we had to focus on Harry and the—and killing Voldemort. But after that night, we knew we were going to be together. That the war would end, eventually, and we would survive it, and we would be together. And that was enough."

"Except you didn't wait for the war to end, did you?" Rose wanted to see her mother smile without the shadows in her eyes. "You kissed him the night of the Final Battle."

"No, I didn't wait. All those feelings, bottled up inside for so long…."

"Mum?"

"Hmm?" She was looking out the window again, into the past.

"If you had it to do over again—with Gran and Granddad Granger, I mean—what would you do differently?"

Mum turned to face her. "I would tell them the truth from the beginning. I would never pretend I wasn't seeing Ron. But my advice to you is to wait. Your dad will come around. I've said it, your uncles have said it … he needs to give you and Scorpius time together here, or at Harry and Ginny's, if he doesn't want you going to Malfoy Manor. He knows we're right. After all, he's the one I snuck out to meet."

There it was, a genuine smile.

* * *

a/n: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed; I really enjoy hearing from you! To find out what happened when Hermione woke up after Malfoy Manor, see chapter seven of "More Important Things" (a collection of Hermione-centric one-shots). And since I'm plugging anyway, "Changing Her Mind" and "The Weasley Christmas Song List" are Christmas-themed stories, and if you want to get a jump on New Year's, check out "Many a Weary Foot."

Merry Christmas, everyone!

keeptheotherone


	10. Chapter 10

Ron picked up the next folder on the pile. He was reviewing the applications for the Auror Academy's summer internship. Recognizing the opening line of the essay, he slammed the file shut in disgust, then picked it up and strode through the empty training room, heading for Harry's office.

"Did you know about this?" Ron flung the folder on Harry's desk and began pacing.

Harry looked up with a start. "Know about what?"

"Malfoy is one of the Academy interns."

"No, I didn't." Harry sounded interested and opened the file.

"We can't let a Malfoy into the Auror department," Ron said flatly. "No way. He's not qualified."

Harry closed the folder and pushed it back towards Ron. "Then send it back."

The intern applicants were screened by the third year trainees; only their selections made it to Ron's desk for final approval.

"I did," Ron growled. "Twice."

"Well, then, it doesn't sound like his qualifications are a problem. You know the trainees take this responsibility seriously because the interns' performance reflects directly on the trainees who select them. Last year you were complaining about how picky they were."

Ron scowled. "This year's class isn't picky enough."

"How did you know it was Scorpius's packet?"

All personal information was removed from the applications to enable an unbiased selection process. It was only today, in the final review before notification, that the names were matched to the files. Blinding the process had been Ron's idea, and Harry had whole-heartedly approved. He wouldn't approve of this, though.

"The first time I sent it back because it was too perfect. The second time I had a hunch and looked it up."

Harry gave Ron his "boss face."

"This is important, Harry."

"Yes, it is. Important for the integrity of this department, not to mention our efforts to recruit the most skilled and intelligent candidates available. If Scorpius has made it through the cut three times, the team considers him top-notch. Can you find an objective reason to disqualify him?"

"How can we trust him?"

"It's a three week internship, Ron, not a top-secret assignment. It's the perfect way to test his character and commitment to the program."

"Just review the file for me, okay? Maybe you can find something wrong with it."

Harry sighed. "Ron..."

"Malfoy, Harry. A Malfoy with direct access to this department. Case files, court records, prisoner reports, intelligence briefings…."

"Tell me what it says. What do you mean it was too perfect?"

Ron snorted. "He should be applying to St. Mungo's or even the curse-breaker program. Outstanding O.W.L.s in Defense, Potions, Charms, Arithmancy, Herbology, Transfiguration, and Ancient Runes, all of which he's still acing at N.E.W.T. level. Letters of recommendation from Neville and Padma—"

"She's DADA professor _and_ Head of Ravenclaw House," Harry said shrewdly.

"Yeah, her letter was more personal than usual, and that's when I looked up the name. Prefect, Charms Club president, hard worker, diligent and responsible, blah, blah, blah."

"Ron, if you don't have a legitimate—and I mean rock-solid, impenetrable reason for rejecting him—I expect his acceptance letter to go out with the others. When will that be, anyway?"

Ron sighed. "I'd like to finish them today. I've approved everyone else so far. If I approve Malfoy, there's only one more slot open."

"Do it. Let the situation play itself out. Scorpius will either do a good job and earn people's respect or he won't. It's that simple."

Ron finally stopped pacing and dropped into a chair. "Rosie isn't speaking to me."

"Can you blame her?"

"She went off—"

"Rose is the most responsible teenager I know. She's Hermione all over again, _without_ me and you dragging her into trouble. She did not deserve the way you barged in and humiliated her Monday night."

Ron scrubbed his hands through his hair. "I know. Merlin, I know, but—I'm just so worried for her. What if it doesn't work out, and she gets her heart broken?"

"What if Scorpius makes her deliriously happy? At this rate, _you're_ the one who's breaking her heart."

Ron didn't even need to close his eyes to see his daughter's anguished face as she cried that she couldn't trust him. He felt as if he'd been walking around with a stake in his heart all week.

"Malfoy invited us to the Excalibur."

"One of the hotel's private dining rooms. That's perfect. No one will want to make a scene in front of the staff."

"I don't know about this, Harry."

"Do you remember that first summer after the war, when Ginny and I started dating again? You, Bill, Charlie … none of you were thrilled Ginny and I were so serious when she was so young, but do you remember what you said? The only rule I had to follow was—"

"Don't make Ginny cry."

"You showed your love for Ginny not by keeping me away from her, but in ensuring I was good for her. Give Scorpius a chance to be good to Rose. I think he already is, or she wouldn't have kept him around."

Ron stared at the folder balanced on the edge of Harry's desk as he considered his best mate's advice. It had been painfully awkward at first, having his best friend date his little sister, but he had put up with it because it made them both happy. Hermione was right—all he had ever wanted, ever since he had first found out he was going to be a father, was for Rosie to be happy and healthy, to grow up knowing she was loved and wanted. Bill was right too; daughters were persuasive. Ron grabbed Malfoy's application packet.

"I'm taking an early lunch. I'll get those letters out this afternoon."

()()()()

Ron stood outside the entrance to the trendy new café in Diagon Alley, feeling strangely nervous. He had Floo-called Rose and invited her to lunch as soon as he had left Harry's office, and Rose agreed to meet him. He scanned the shoppers approaching from the Leaky Cauldron, looking for her distinctive auburn curls. She hadn't spotted him yet, and Ron took the opportunity to watch her without being seen. She had changed clothes, wearing a set of lightweight green robes and a thin Alice band in her hair. He and Hermione allowed the kids to wear Muggle clothes both at home and in the wizarding world, but Rose had acknowledged she was meeting her Ministry-employed father in a magical restaurant on a workday by changing into wizarding attire. She really was the most responsible teenager….

Their greeting was a bit awkward, but the familiar routine of being seated and ordering drinks smoothed over the first few minutes. Once their waiter (who watched Rose intently as she considered the menu, causing Ron to clear his throat loudly) had taken their orders and placed a butterbeer and gillywater in front of them, Ron pulled a sealed envelope out of his robe pocket. He laid it on the table in front of Rose.

"What's this?"

"Scorpius's acceptance letter for the Auror internship."

Rose's face lit up. "He got in?"

"He got in," Ron confirmed. "I thought you might like to be the one to tell him."

Her jaw dropped.

"You can Floo-call him after lunch, invite him to spend the afternoon in Diagon Alley with you."

Rose's mouth closed and opened twice before she managed to speak. "Really?"

Ron nodded. "I—I'm sorry about Monday night, Rosie. You were right. I should have trusted you."

Rose fingered the parchment, tracing the wax seal with its crossed wand emblem. "Does this mean I can see Scorpius without sneaking around?"

"Not at Malfoy Manor," Ron said quickly, wanting to be absolutely clear. "I still do not want you in that house. And I expect you to ask me or your mum before inviting him over or meeting him anywhere. But yes, Rose. If we know where you are and who you're with and when you'll be home, you can—" He couldn't quite bring himself to use the word _date_— "see Malfoy."

Rose reached across the table, grabbed his hand, and squeezed it, beaming at him. Ron took his first full breath in two days. That look, right there; that's all he ever wanted for Rosie, that pure joy.

"I, er, I need your help with something," he said, squeezing her hand back before letting go and taking another piece of parchment out of his pocket, along with a quill and a bottle of ink. "We need to accept the Malfoys' dinner invitation."

Rose made short work of the letter, apologizing for the late notice and accepting the offer to meet at the Excalibur without appearing to snub the hospitality of the Malfoys' home. The food arrived just as Ron tucked the letter into his pocket. He stared doubtfully at his plate (he had let Rosie order for him) and pretended to eat as she chatted on—and on, and on—about how much Scorpius wanted the Auror internship, how excited he was going to be, how excited she was to tell him, how excited she was to see him, how glad she was that she'd changed clothes, how smart Scorpius was, how thoughtful Scorpius was…. Ron had thought he knew the boy reasonably well after thoroughly reviewing his detailed application multiple times, but his daughter gave a wealth of new insights, not the least of which was—

He appeared to make Rose deliriously happy.

* * *

a/n: I know this was kind of short, but next week is *drumroll* The Dinner! Thanks to all of you who have favorited or reviewed ... and if you haven't, it's never too late ;) Seriously, I really appreciate feedback on this story since it's my first time writing Rose/Scorpius. Happy New Year, everyone!


	11. Chapter 11

_The Excalibur Hotel_

Astoria Malfoy surveyed the room critically. It was small but not cramped, with a round table that would seat eight people set for seven. The picture window behind the table opened onto Side Street, not the more popular and heavily traveled Diagon Alley, and the room's entrance was just off the restaurant lobby, so the two families would not be subjected to scrutiny as they walked the length of the restaurant.

"This will do nicely," she said. "Thank you, Patrick."

"Of course, Mrs. Malfoy. I will escort the Weasleys as soon as they arrive."

"Thank you."

Draco was frowning at the round table. "Are you sure about this?"

"Sit down, darling," Astoria said, indicating the chair beside her, facing the doorway. "Rose will naturally sit next to Scorpius, Hermione next to me, and Ron and Hugo in between them. It's the least … inflammatory arrangement."

Draco took his seat, picked up the menu, and frowned at it instead. Astoria knew he wasn't reading it; he always ordered the same thing whenever they dined at the Excalibur.

"I still don't understand why we had to be here half an hour early."

Astoria poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher in the center of the table and took a sip before repeating herself yet again. "Because we're the hosts. It is our responsibility to ensure everything is well-prepared for our guests, just as it would be if we were at home." She then gave a reason she knew he would accept. "Not to mention, arriving early is a position of power."

Draco looked up from glaring at the wine section and his expression softened. "I should have known you had a better reason than making sure the staff were doing their jobs. The service here is always excellent."

Scorpius had yet to take his assigned seat next to his father and was standing in the doorway watching the lobby.

"Sit down, love. They won't be here for a while."

"Don't bet on it," Draco said darkly. "Granger is always by the book. She'll be ten minutes early, even if she is dragging Weasley along with her."

"She's been married for twenty years, Draco. If you can't call her by her first name, at least have the courtesy to use her married one."

Draco returned to glaring at the menu and flipped the page to seafood.

Truth was, he was worried. Astoria could tell by his choice of tie (the green and silver one he always wore to close a deal) and the stillness of his posture. Unlike her, Draco didn't fidget when he was nervous or upset. He got very still and very quiet. This was the most he'd spoken in two hours. In all honesty, she was anxious herself. She remembered Ron and Hermione from Hogwarts (who didn't?), but they were two years ahead of her, and she had never met them. At least Draco had sporadic contact through his Ministry connections, some political topics to discuss with them as well as the ubiquitous Quidditch, but what did she, Astoria Greengrass Malfoy, have in common with Hermione Granger Weasley?

Hermione was Muggle-born; Astoria was pureblood. Despite being upper-level Ministry officials, the Weasleys lived relatively modestly, according to Scorpius; Astoria lived in an ancient manor home with more rooms than many hotels. Hermione had aced her N.E.W.T.s and immediately taken a position in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures before transferring to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Astoria had never worked a day in her life, at least not for pay. Hermione was a heroine instrumental in the downfall of You-Know-Who; Astoria had kept her head down and her mouth shut. The only thing—she took a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly—the only thing they had in common was that universal bond, motherhood. Surely they could find some common ground about their children. This was so important to Scorpius, which made it essential to Astoria. And to Draco too, she thought, glancing at him again. This might be the first time he had read the entire menu in all the years they had been coming here.

Astoria took another deep breath and glanced out the window. She was the only adult who had not been present on that terrible night, who had not participated in the bullying and the ridicule. She felt as if the success of this dinner rested on her shoulders, on her ability to negotiate, placate, and manipulate, and while she had learned to do that very well growing up in Slytherin House, she was not at all confident of her ability to smooth things over should Draco start acting like a brat. He had promised her he wouldn't, promised Scorpius he would be polite to Rose's parents, but Astoria had seen his tension increasing every day as this dinner drew nearer.

"They're here!" In his haste not to be seen watching, Scorpius knocked over his empty water glass and nearly collided with his father.

"Watch where you're going!" Draco said sharply.

Astoria shot a quick glance at her son, but his enthusiasm was undaunted by his father's rebuke. Draco was right; it was exactly six-fifty.

Ron Weasley appeared in the doorway first, looking alert and very Auror-ish. His sweeping glance missed nothing, including Scorpius's fallen glass. Astoria reached across the table and righted it as Draco stood and walked around the table.

"Weasley," Draco said, extending a hand. "Good evening."

His hand hung in mid-air. Astoria held her breath and heard a soft gasp as Hermione did too.

"Malfoy." Ron took his hand, shook it once, and both men let go immediately.

"Hermione," Draco said, stepping around Ron and extending his hand again. "You look lovely."

What Hermione really looked was shocked, and she actually gaped at Draco for a moment before recovering herself.

"Thank you," she said, shaking Draco's hand for a beat or two longer than her husband had. "This is lovely," she added, looking around the room. "Ron and I have been to the main restaurant and several events in the ballroom, but never back here."

"We wanted something more private than the main dining room," Astoria said, smiling at her guests. "Not to mention I don't have to clear up afterwards. Astoria Malfoy." She reached out her own hand to Hermione.

"It's not like you would at home, either, what with the house-elves," Draco said.

Oh, she was going to kill him! Everyone in the wizarding world knew that Hermione had campaigned tirelessly for _years_ for the passage of the House-Elves' Protection and Basic Rights Act.

Hermione's face froze in mid-smile, and the hand she had stretched out towards Astoria's balled into a fist. Draco eyed it warily until Hermione relaxed with a visible effort.

"I was pleased to see the last inspection report showing you in full compliance," she said.

"Even those of us who are not goody-two-shoes find life easier on the right side of the law," Draco said.

Ron made a not-so-subtle move, placing himself between Draco and Hermione.

"You must be Rose," Astoria said quickly, smiling at the young woman standing stiffly beside Hermione.

Rose jerked her attention away from Ron and Draco. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Malfoy."

Astoria shook the proffered hand. "How do you do." Rose _was_ pretty, if not classically so. She had her mother's heart-shaped face and brown eyes, her father's freckles, and her curly hair was a blend of both of them, darker than Ron's but redder than Hermione's.

"This is our son, Hugo," Hermione said, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder and drawing him forward.

"Hello," Hugo said, shaking hands with her and Draco before performing that dreadful rhythmic hand-greeting with Scorpius. It looked to be the same one Al Potter used.

"Let's sit down, shall we? I'm sure Patrick will be in soon for drinks." Astoria led the way to the table, and as she and Draco resumed their seats and Scorpius sat down from greeting Ron, the Weasleys acted exactly as she had predicted: Rose took the chair next to Scorpius, Hugo sat beside his sister, Hermione sat next to Astoria, and Ron took the empty chair between his wife and son.

Patrick must have been watching from just outside the door because they were still scooting in their chairs when he appeared. Draco ordered two bottles of wine and ignored her kick under the table; she had explicitly instructed him to give Ron a choice in the selection.

"I had Arithmancy with your sister," Hermione said, nodding as Astoria held up the water pitcher inquiringly. "She was a bright pupil."

Astoria wrinkled her nose. "Don't remind me. My marks were never as good as hers."

"How is Daphne? I don't think I've seen her since we left school."

"She's doing well," Astoria said, pouring for Ron and Hugo as well as they held their glasses out to her. "We just returned from a week together on the Riviera."

"Oh, that's right. Scorpius said you were traveling. I love the sea, but it's such a hassle keeping Ron from getting burned. He never tans, no matter how much sun he gets."

"Draco is the same way," Astoria said. "For someone who did so well in Charms, I've never understood how he could be rubbish at sun protection spells."

Draco and Ron glared at her and Hermione, then seemed to realize they both agreed on something and looked away from each other.

"I assume you know what you want to order, since you've been here before?" Draco said.

There was a slight edge to his voice that Astoria recognized as nerves. She glanced at the Weasleys, worried they would take it as rudeness. Ron's posture was rigid and his gaze sharp, but he said nothing.

"I don't know," Hermione said, opening her menu to the first page. "I thought I wanted fish—their grilled salmon is excellent, you know—but then Hugo started talking about steak, and now I can't decide."

"We'll leave you for last, then," Ron said, closing his menu and laying it beside his plate.

"Mum always reads the entire menu, no matter how many times she's been to a restaurant," Hugo said, rolling his eyes at his mother.

Astoria knew that expression well; Scorpius still did it to her on occasion, despite Draco's rap on the head whenever he caught him. But Ron was too busy watching Draco to notice Hugo's attitude.

"Well, that should take all of thirty seconds," Draco said, closing his menu at last and reaching over to stack Astoria's and Ron's on top of his.

Hermione looked up, and both her and Ron's expressions were suspicious. Hermione relaxed first, returning to her perusal of dinner choices. How intense had this rivalry been if even a backhanded compliment was received so skeptically?

Patrick materialized with the wine, offered it to Draco for his approval, which he gave with a curt nod, and began pouring. "Are you ready to order?"

"Hermione?" Draco said courteously, and again, she seemed surprised. Whether at his manners or his use of her first name, Astoria couldn't tell, but she was starting to get annoyed. Draco could be perfectly charming; there was no need to act as if his manners were alien.

"Start with Ron," she said, turning a page.

Patrick took Ron and Hugo's orders, but Rose was so absorbed in whatever Scorpius was saying she hadn't noticed it was her turn.

"Miss? Miss Weasley?"

"What?" Rose spun around.

"May I take your order?"

Seeing the entire table watching her, Rose flushed and fumbled with her menu. "Er, I'll just—I'll have—" She looked to her mother for help, but Hermione's nose was buried in the desserts section.

Patrick waited patiently.

Draco cleared his throat and gave Rose a pointed look. Astoria couldn't figure out why he was pressuring the poor girl until Ron spoke up.

"Take your time, Rosie. Order anything you like."

Wonderful. Draco was baiting him by picking on his daughter. Astoria slid her foot over and pressed the heel of her shoe into Draco's instep. He gasped and glared at her.

"They're our guests," Astoria hissed. "Guests, Draco. That means you are considerate and helpful."

Draco gave her a look she hadn't seen since the last time she suggested he volunteer at St. Mungo's instead of just sending a check, but he did take her advice.

"The prime rib is excellent, Rose, or maybe grilled salmon, like your mother?"

"Dad, Mrs. Weasley is not a fish!"

Astoria noted the barest hint of pink in Draco's pale cheeks.

"Prime rib, well done," Rose said, passing her menu to the waiter. "And a jacket potato, please."

"Well done?" Draco grumbled. "Why bother?"

"I don't play with my food before eating it, so there's no reason not to make sure it's dead," Rose said.

Ron smirked at Draco as Patrick took the last of their orders and left the room. Scorpius and Rose immediately resumed their conversation, and the tension between the adults tightened.

"So," Hermione said in a falsely bright voice. "Rose says Scorpius has been accepted to the Auror intern program this summer. You must be very proud."

Astoria's annoyance with the witch vanished, and even Draco looked pleased. "Yes, we are," she said. "Scorpius is thrilled."

"To be honest," Draco said, taking a sip of wine, "I'm surprised you approved him, Weasley."

"It wasn't for lack of trying," Ron muttered. He jumped slightly, as if Hermione had just kicked him, and spoke in a normal tone. "His qualifications are impeccable."

Draco's gaze narrowed and Ron met it squarely.

"Hugo, you're—" Astoria groped for the details Scorpius had shared about Rose's family. "You'll be a fifth year, correct?"

Hugo, looking immensely bored despite being addressed directly, nodded.

"Any ideas for a career?" Astoria said, desperate to keep the conversation going. "Maybe an Auror, like your father?"

"I don't think so," Hugo said. "I like working in Uncle George's shop."

"George says he has a real head for business," Hermione said, smiling at her son. "Especially marketing. Have you seen the new advert on the Knight Bus? Hugo designed that one."

"Mum…."

Astoria hadn't (they never had a need to ride the Knight Bus), but Draco said, "That one's clever. Well done."

"Thanks."

More silence, but this one was more awkward than tense.

"And congratulations on winning the Quidditch Cup," Draco said. "Scorpius said it was a close match."

"I cannot believe he just said that," Astoria breathed, staring at her husband.

"Me either," Hermione said, sounding impressed. "I've always thought Draco would bleed green if you stuck him."

Astoria laughed. "He does."

"Do you follow Quidditch?" Hermione said as Ron joined Hugo and Draco's conversation about the Hogwarts' teams.

"Not at all."

"Oh, good," Hermione said. "Neither do I."

Astoria thought she quite liked Hermione Weasley.

()()()()

Dinner had not been as bad as Hermione feared; in fact, once they got the conversation rolling, it had been rather enjoyable. She and Astoria had discussed their children, their favorite beaches, the new store hours in Diagon Alley, and even house-elves. As a woman who had been around house-elves her entire life, both as a recipient of their services and an employer, Hermione found Astoria's thoughts on implementing and monitoring the new regulations enlightening and helpful and had a series of notes crammed onto the back of her grocery list. Quidditch had kept Draco, Ron, and Hugo entertained all the way through dessert, and even Rose and Scorpius had joined in. Although the discussion had been spirited, it wasn't malicious, and Hermione knew Ron had enjoyed the opportunity to brag on both Hugo and Ginny.

"Mum?" Rose and Scorpius stood behind them, hand in hand. "We're going for a walk."

Hermione glanced outside; it was still daylight, but barely. "All right. Stay on Diagon Alley and—"

"I know, Mum," Rose said. "Don't go past the Leaky or the Wheezes."

That had been the children's boundaries in Diagon Alley for—well, forever really. Hermione knew it was ridiculous to remind Rose, especially at seventeen, but old habits died hard.

"We won't go far, Mrs. Weasley," Scorpius said. "We want to see if there's anything new at Flourish and Blotts."

"Have fun," Astoria said. Then, when the couple was out of earshot, she said, "Of course they do."

Hermione laughed. "Knowing Rose, Scorpius is likely to be disappointed. She won't leave until she's thrown out at closing."

"Assuming that's actually where they're going."

"Rose knows better than to lie," Hermione said. "But if Scorpius is smart, they won't go there straightaway."

"Where's Rose?" Ron said when his sweep of the room came up empty.

"She and Scorpius went to the bookstore," Astoria said. "He's been anticipating a new book by one of his favorite authors."

Ron drew his eyebrows together, and Hermione knew he was disconcerted that he hadn't noticed Rose leave. Patrick and another waiter entered the room and began clearing the table.

"Potter says you play chess," Draco said pleasantly.

Ron stared at him. "That's so weird."

"What's weird?"

"To hear you say Harry's name like that. He does it too," Ron added hastily. "He calls you 'Draco and Astoria.' It just takes some getting used to, that's all."

"Well, do you?" Draco said, his impatient tone closer to the one Hermione and Ron were familiar with.

"Of course."

Draco pulled a tiny box out of his robe pocket and reversed the shrinking charm, unfolding a chessboard onto the empty space between him and Ron. "I hope you're a better player than Harry. I hardly get any satisfaction in beating him anymore."

Ron snorted. "I know exactly what you mean."

Ron and Draco stared at each other, startled by the momentary camaraderie, then busied themselves setting up the board.

"Harry and Draco play chess?" Hermione said incredulously. She watched as Draco held out both fists. Ron tapped one and Draco opened it, revealing a black piece.

"Mm-hmm," Astoria said. "It started the first time Al came over to play with Scorpius. Harry was obviously reluctant to leave, so Draco challenged him to a match. Now I think they both look forward to it, though for Salazar's sake, don't say that to either one of them."

Hermione started at the unfamiliar name.

"No Slytherins in your social circle, eh?" Astoria said, amused.

"Just my niece, Lily."

Draco and Ron shook hands, and Draco made the first move.

"Draco laughed for _weeks_ when we heard about that. He still likes to tease Harry about it. I think he was a bit disappointed when Scorpius fell for Rose instead."

"So was Lily," Hermione said dryly.

Hugo had pulled out a book and moved his chair to take advantage of a lamp in the corner. Ron and Draco, now several moves in, were staring at the chessboard with serious, almost grim, expressions.

"Chess might not have been such a good idea," Astoria whispered, sliding the jeweled charm on her necklace back and forth.

"Maybe it will end in a draw," Hermione said.

"One of them still has to offer."

Hermione's heart sank. It was going to be a long evening.

()()()()

Rose felt her arm stretch to its full length as she and Scorpius turned in opposite directions when they left the hotel.

"This way," Scorpius said, tugging on her arm again.

"But Flourish and Blotts is that way." Rose pointed behind her as Scorpius pulled her down the street and around a corner. "And I told Mum we would stay on Diagon Alley."

"We won't go far," he said, and stopped in the shadow of an empty doorway. "Come here."

"Scorpius—" He had pulled her into an embrace and was kissing her neck. "We should … go …."

"In a minute."

He was kissing her properly now, and Rose felt the tension of the last few hours melting away. She returned his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning into him. Too soon, he broke away, still nuzzling against her hair.

"Merlin, that's better. I've wanted to do that since I saw you walking up to the hotel."

Rose turned and captured his mouth again, sliding her hands into his hair to hold him close, stopping only to breathe.

"I love you."

She smiled up at him. "I love you too. But we should go. I wouldn't put it past Dad to have Aurors stationed out here tonight."

"I'm sorry Dad made the crack about the house-elves. And your order."

Rose took his hand and led the way towards Flourish and Blotts. "Don't worry about it. A little sarcasm was inevitable. Our mums were doing okay, don't you think?"

"I think so. It was nice of your mum to listen to what she said about monitoring the house-elves."

"Oh, Mum's wanted an inside opinion for ages. She just didn't have anyone to ask. Andromeda Tonks helped a bit, but she hasn't lived with house-elves in—well, decades."

"Don't turn around now, but I think someone is following us."

Rose stopped and pretended to examine her reflection in the display window of the Magical Menagerie. "Oh, honestly! That's one of the senior trainees who helped with the extra security wards last summer. Patrick's probably one of them too."

"No, he's not," Scorpius said, lengthening his stride as Rose increased her pace. "He's been our waiter loads of times."

"I can't believe him," Rose fumed, her robes billowing out behind her as she stalked past Gringotts.

"He's just trying to protect your mum," Scorpius said. "And you, I reckon."

"Mum and I can take care of ourselves! And it's embarrassing." And after their lunch on Wednesday too…. She marched up to Flourish and Blotts and straight-armed the door open.

"He's trying, Rose." Scorpius caught the door before it slammed into a display table. "He gave you my intern letter and let us spend the whole afternoon alone together, remember? And he made conversation with Dad through most of dinner."

"About Quidditch," she hissed, dropping her voice automatically as she made for the Arithmancy section. No one ever went back there. "My dad would talk to a tree stump about Quidditch."

"Still, he didn't insult Dad's team or anything. He could have been really arrogant about the Harpies winning those championships, but it just came off as being proud of his sister. Dad said your mum almost died and that your dad was already in love with her. That can't be easy to forgive, Rose."

Rose stopped, remembering those horrible minutes in the cellar of Malfoy Manor. She took a deep breath. "Okay. I guess it's something that he didn't bring the security inside the hotel."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence that Auror bloke was in the Alley. He wasn't in uniform."

Rose gave Scorpius a pitying look. "If you want to be an Auror, you're going to have to be a lot more suspicious than that."

Scorpius stood on tiptoe and peered over the bookshelves. "He's here, over by the Muggle Studies section."

She pulled him into a corner and looped her arms around his neck. "Well, then, let's give him something to report, shall we?"

()()()()

Ron studied the board in front of him. The match was a draw. He knew it, Draco knew it, they each knew the other knew it, and still, neither one of them had actually offered. It annoyed Ron to no end. It was extremely bad form, and he was just as irritated with himself as he was with Malfoy. Ron looked over to where Hermione and Astoria (no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't associate "Malfoy" with a woman) were watching. Hermione's hands were clenched in her lap and her eyes were wide. He could _feel_ her urging him to be the better man. He wished Rosie would come back. He wanted her to see that he was trying to get along.

Draco advanced his rook. Ron made his move, took a deep breath, looked Malfoy in the eye, and said, "I offer a draw."

"Accepted," Malfoy said promptly, extending his hand.

Ron shook it. "Good game. I can tell you've been playing Harry."

"I reckoned he had developed his defense playing against you. We'll have to have a rematch."

Ron stopped clearing the board and looked up. He remembered what Malfoy had written in his invitation: _I will not allow you—or any one, or any thing—to stand in the way of my son's happiness._ He was obviously including himself in that, setting aside their families' past to make room for their children's futures.

_For Rosie_, Ron thought, and gave Draco a tiny nod of acknowledgement.

* * *

a/n: Ta-da! *beams proudly* This has been a blast, y'all, and one of my best-received stories, so thank you very much! Special thanks to those who have reviewed diligently from the beginning (in no particular order): kankusan, My Dear Professor McGonagall, Il'Diko, The Hapless Quill, LilyMay77, and a double shout-out to misspotter94, who inspired the touch of Scorpius/Lily included in this chapter (even if you do have to tip your head and squint to see it). Rose's comment about the Auror trainee is a reference to my stories "Consequences" and "Auror Take Two."

I have no idea what I'll post next; I'm still working on my Eighth Year Fic (I know, I know, we're all hoping it's worth the hype after_—_holy cow, five-and-a-half months already!), but I have lots of other ideas and will probably start work on them too. I have posted a couple of one-shots in the last ten days or so and have one more challenge piece due.

And now, LET'S ALL WISH MY BETA **vancabreuniter** a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! *throws confetti* She adds another year of fabulousness on January 10th. I couldn't do it without you!


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